A World to Change
by adamrpg
Summary: Five year old Naruto hugged Sarutobi's leg, wanting him to stay in his apartment forever. "I've got to go, little Naruto." "But you're the nicest person in the world," Naruto said, gazing at his lone source of kindness. "Well," he said, smiling, "I'm the Hokage. It's my job." Naruto stepped back and proclaimed, bright-eyed: "Then I'll be a kind, amazing Hokage one day, too!" AU.
1. Final Moments

**Hi there everyone - this is Adamrpg, brought back from the dead. It's been years since I've done **_**anything**_** with writing on here****, and it's sad to say, but I haven't had the motivation to finish my stories. I'm sorry to those who expected more; and I'm trying this story as an experiment, hopefully a long one. This is an AU of the Naruto universe. There are a few changes from the main universe, which have led to a **_**very**_ **different Naruto storyline.**

**I'll be updating when I can, but I'm a busy college worker now. I'd also like to say that this story's rating might change to M later on, but for now, it's T.**

**I hope you like what goes on in my head, guys.**

**Disclaimer - I do not own any aspect of Naruto. If I did, Nagato wouldn't have been in that darn machine.**

* * *

_Naruto_

The eleventh day of my condition, I wasn't able to walk anymore, even if assisted. Even sitting up was hard, and after a while of that, my labored breathing convinced Hinata that I needed to lie against a rock. "You know," I coughed out, that very action hurting, "Being poisoned _sucks_." Though I said it with an upbeat attitude, neither Hinata nor Sasuke cracked a smile. For being 12 years old, they should really have bigger senses of humor.

"Don't focus on it," Hinata said as she looked me over, always such a caring person. However, she sounded exhausted, and I felt sorry for her, for all of us. The day before, we had been attacked for the second time since I got poisoned by that freak. I _had_ to fight. I wouldn't have forgiven myself otherwise. Yet I had only been a distraction to the enemy ninjas, not a threat. It hurt my pride, but in the long run, it hurt my health too - I felt so much weaker today, and I was feverish again. The pain was a strong ache everywhere, but it wasn't keeping me from talking. No, I had to let them know I was still alright.

"I could really.. go for some ramen right now, guys," I said, and Hinata cracked a slight smile as she dampened a piece of cloth and held it against my head. Sasuke paused for a second as he checked his broken right arm, and though his grimace didn't disappear, I attributed it to the pain in his arm. He wrapped it again slowly, carefully. I glanced back at Hinata, giving her the brightest smile I could. Her cheeks tinted pink for a moment, but it faded as she focused on bringing up a canteen to my lips. "Here," she softly said, and I tilted my head up as she bent the canteen for me to drink.

Hinata and Sasuke had been taking care of me like this the past couple of days, though Sasuke appeared impatient as always when he did so. Still, I knew this was out of character for him. It touched my heart that they cared so much. Almost made me wish I'd gotten poisoned sooner. As soon as I drank a bit, I looked at Hinata. The bags under her eyes told me how little she had been sleeping. She'd been the main one to keep watch, having the longest shift. Not only was she the least injured of us, but she could scan around with her Byakugan every couple minutes. It was taking its toll on her, on all of us, but she was _so_ strong. I always knew she had it in her to be this strong. Pride welled up in me, and I had so much to thank her and Sasuke for, for being one of my few precious people, for being there, for doing what I couldn't do by myself right now. I wanted to thank them for all of it.

But all I got out was a mild "Thank you". Still, her lips quirked up. She then began to put away the canteen. "No," I said, and she glanced back at me. Her eyes widened.

"G-gomen," she sputtered, thinking I wanted more water. She began to lift it to me again.

"No, Hinata-chan," I breathed out, feeling a slight wave of dizziness come over me. "You need to drink, too."

"But I'm fine," she said.

I shook my head. "No, you're not - you're doing mo-more than me and Sasuke can, you need it." I could feel my chest starting to burn as I talked.

"I'm fine, th-" She stopped when my hand softly grabbed hers, the one holding the canteen. I didn't trust my voice anymore. She lightly blushed - I wasn't sure why - and I slowly raised the canteen up to her mouth. Giving in, she took a sip, and my hand fell back down to my lap. I was satisfied, and flashed a smile. She smiled back this time.

As she put back the canteen, I took the time to review her state after yesterday. She had a few bruises, one on her cheek, another couple on her arms, and I couldn't see any more. I could, however, see the slight tears in her clothes and the cuts accompanying them. Some were just from branches in the forest, but a few were distinctly made by weapons. There was even a burn mark on one shoulder, probably from a lightning jutsu in the battle yesterday. Hinata finally noticed me looking.

"I'm okay, Naruto-kun. Worry about getting rest." She reviewed what else we had. It didn't take long since we didn't have much left, and soon she left to find some food. I stared at Sasuke after that, trying to resist the fever and nausea that was creeping up on me.

We were pretty sure Sasuke's arm was going to heal fine, so long as we got back to Konoha soon. Other than a broken right arm, he had a couple small burns, a few cuts, and more bruises than Hinata (that I knew of, a voice reminded me). He also had a gash above his right eye from the day before, pretty bad, and it kept opening whenever we traveled. He was also missing a few locks from a close encounter with a kunai, but he didn't need to know about those - I'd tease him about it later. _If there is a later_, a grim thought popped into my head. I focused on other things, like wondering why my fast healing hadn't taken care of this poison yet. At this point, I wasn't very afraid yet. The Kyuubi could beat this, right? Still, feeling pain just from moving sucked. Not to mention we were all low on chakra, from the constant running and fighting.

I didn't want to reflect on how bad off we were, but I had run out of other things to think about. Slowly, I fell into an unrestful sleep.

* * *

The twelfth day apparently wasn't a good day for me. I didn't wake up once - not lucidly, anyway - and they said I had had delusions. I had tried to punch Sasuke, saying something about how Kumo ninja wouldn't hurt my friends. I'd also started vomiting in my sleep, and began choking on it until they noticed and turned me over. Scary thought, dying that way.

The thirteenth day was full of pain for me, and my fever was skyrocketing, but I didn't hallucinate that day. Instead, I started to feel grateful, because memories from my lonely childhood kept popping up as we traveled, me on Sasuke's back. Every time a memory faded, my heart twinged as I realized - I had friends now, who were doing all they could to keep my safe. I didn't know what I'd do without them, but a growing part of me was afraid that soon, they'd find out what they would do without _me_. I didn't want to go yet, damnit...

* * *

The fourteenth day was better. I couldn't stand or sit up on my own, but I could talk, albeit painfully. "Hey, teme," I croaked out while on Sasuke's back, "Maybe later today… I'll be beating you in- in a spar again…"

"Shut it," Sasuke started, only able to keep one eye open because of the blood blocking his sight in the other, "You have to rest." _Thump_. Another tree was jumped off of, and I was jerked a little, but Sasuke tried as hard as he could to keep me in place. It was harder because only his left arm was in good condition. Yesterday, when I had woken up, he'd used his chakra to stick me to his back. It was kind of him, but I told him to conserve his chakra. I'd survive a bumpy ride.

Even though he conceded the point, the fact that he would use his limited chakra on me... I was a bit happy at that display. It had been hard to see Sasuke care, but the past few weeks had made him show a side I didn't know existed. After a while, we stopped. The sun was low - it seemed like I had slept for most of that day. I stifled an agonized groan as I was placed down against a tree trunk, but they saw my pained face. Sasuke frowned with unusual concern, and squatted down to inspect me. He lightly pressed two fingers against my hot, flushed neck to check my pulse. I didn't want to see his face inevitably fall at the irregular beat, so I moved my eyes over to see Hinata.

She was by Sasuke's side, and glanced at me with eyes full of mixed emotions. She was the best off, injury-wise, of all of us, which wasn't saying very much. "Naruto-kun," she started with a tired, but concerned, voice, "Just blink if it's a yes." Damn it, was she going to ask? "Do you feel any better?" she questioned, going to more optimistic route. Maybe she hoped I'd blink naturally, but I forced myself to keep them open. Normally I'd assure her everything would be fine, and I did, the first week, but things were just too dire for that. I was too close to actually dying to lie to her.

When she saw my eyes stay open, Hinata stood up and started walking to the other end of the clearing they had stopped at. "I'm going to find some food," she said, but I heard her sniffle afterward. My heartstrings tore as reality started to set in. _I'm not going to be Hokage_, I thought to myself, and Sasuke looked away as tears started to seep out of me. _I'm not going to make all the children in the village feel loved; I'm not going to keep my precious people safe. I'm not going to see Konohamaru graduate, or see the old man retire. I'm not going to be the best, kindest, strongest, smartest Hokage ever. I won't make Iruka-sensei proud, or tell Teuchi how good his ramen is ever again. I won't be anyone anymore. I'll just be... nothing._ My tears subsided, but the pain, both physical and emotional that I felt, did not fade.

Sasuke opened the only pack we had left, and checked the contents again. His sigh indicated that things still weren't good. The sound of Sasuke unfolding the map was the last thing I heard before the steadily growing pulsing pain in my head took over my senses, and I knew only pain until I slept.

Later that night, I woke up to the sound of rustling beside me. My ninja instincts shouted at me to open my eyes, to react somehow, but I only twitched, because soon enough this searing pain overtook my heart as I tried to move. I drew in a quick breath through my mouth. A soft hand touched my hot, sweaty forehead, before quickly drawing away. "It's hotter than before…" I heard Hinata sorrowfully mumble, before she sniffled again.

I phased back into what I've been starting to call my waking dreams - hallucinations, delusions, sometimes memories, whatever you want to call them. The pain faded a bit and I could open my eyes, but what I saw wasn't Hinata anymore; it was Ayame and Teuchi, and I pulled off a slight grin. "Your fourth bowl was miso too, right?" they asked me. I nodded, and they told me about how it was strange, everyone at their stand was ordering only miso ramen, and has been for the past two weeks. The lines on Teuchi's face were interesting to watch as he talked, which was strange, since I never really looked at them. I glanced at Ayame, and she had on a sad face this time, I wasn't sure why. Plus, her pupils were gone now - her eyes were completely white. I started to ask her about them, but Teuchi interrupted me.

"Even the Hokage came by today and ordered miso ramen! He was raving about how he needed a replacement soon. It was kind of funny, actually." That reminded me of something I wanted to tell him, and I forgot all about Ayame and her white eyes and sad face.

"Hey old man, you know who's going to be the next face on that monument?" Teuchi looked at me, puzzled. He shook his head. He had to be playing a game or pretending or something, I've told him this for years! Thinking he was just letting me tell him again, I blurted it out: "I am! Uzumaki Naruto, the best, kindest, strongest, smartest Hokage ever!"

Teuchi frowned and shook his head, exhaling slowly. "Naruto, I don't think that's going to happen," he said, and I looked at him with shocked, somewhat hurt eyes. "You're sick, Naruto," he said, pointing down at my left arm. It had a small cut, but the rest seemed to hang lifelessly, and I started to feel pain, first radiating from it, then my head, and then everything hurt.

I turned my head to Ayame, but her hair was melting into black locks, and my vision got hazy, but I could have sworn the surroundings turned into a forest. Ayame got closer, but I don't think it was Ayame anymore, but someone else. I couldn't put my finger on who, even though I felt I should have; my vision was fading slowly.

Lips touched my cheek, cool against my face, which was really hot for some reason. The last thing I heard was someone telling me something. They said it in an important voice, and I caught only parts of it. "... die… just know… love…"

I didn't understand the words. However, when I faded to unconsciousness, I had a good rest for the first time since this whole adventure started. I didn't have dreams, nightmares, delusions, anything. I didn't fear, I didn't feel, I didn't think. It was like I had died.

* * *

But I hadn't.

When I awoke, I couldn't open my eyes. It wasn't the dread I felt, but the pain of being alive at that moment. The poison running through my veins had slowly overtaken my very being, and every waking moment was torture. But I had to open them. My senses were working this time; I felt the rough tree trunk behind me, supporting me since I couldn't support myself.

_Clang!_ I heard steel against steel. "Argh," Sasuke grunted somewhere ahead of me, and I heard the thump of a body. It sounded heavier than Sasuke, but the worry inside me flared. Where was -

"Sasuke, we need to get Naruto out of here!" she hoarsely shouted. Hinata was fine, too. Thank goodness. I myself couldn't open my eyes, still, but I tried - the pain shot through my head and I nearly blacked out again. It had been fifteen days, much longer than the three that man had promised I would last. _Heh_, I thought before blinking out of consciousness, _guess he didn't know how stubborn I am_… But my stubbornness wasn't strong enough this time to help my friends. I feared for their lives - we barely survived last time, and now we were even weaker. These ninja hunting us were always able to find us...

As the darkness crept up to block out my thoughts, another dream - or delusion - started creeping up on me. This time, though, it was a memory. Memories, actually. They say one sees their life flash before their eyes before they die.

I was not an exception.

* * *

**AN: After this, we'll be going back in time a bit. By a bit, I mean several years. I'll be sharing some background that'll show how this has changed, how it's different, etc. And I'll be switching to third-person from now on.**

**Please review if I'm wrong on something in the story! I want to correct it. If it's on purpose, I'll let you know. Also, I'm unused to the publishing thing, so if I've missed italics around thoughts, or italics around onomatopoeia, things like that, please do tell!**

**I have a question about my writing style: Did I write too fast? Did I gloss over things? Or did I write too slow, not have enough action? Was I too descriptive, not descriptive enough? Was I too vague? Some of my vagueness is on purpose, but other times, it's just me messing up. Let me know about what I can do to improve!**

**Thanks,**

**Adamrpg**


	2. Konoha Anew

**Hello everyone. Thanks to those who've followed and favorited; I didn't expect much from the first chapter, but that was more than expected! I'll be writing as inspiration strikes me, and I hope that my inspiration can be translated into a good story. I'm definitely not opposed to editing my chapters, so any feedback is welcome, good or bad. I'd also like to inform you guys a bit of what I think the canon is like, so you can understand my changes a bit more.  
**

**Canon: Naruto and folks graduated around age 12 and a half, and by the Sasuke retrieval arc, about 8 months had passed since graduation, making them all 13. I also believe the 3rd Shinobi War ended about 2.5 years before the Kyuubi attack, and the Yondaime came into office about 1.5 years before the Kyuubi attack. If someone has proof or reasoning otherwise, feel free to review or PM me!**

**Also, a response to my first review for this story! Written by a guest, so I shall respond in this heading.  
Guest: I'm glad you enjoy the pace so far, and I'll try to update often enough. I don't plan on doing it less than twice a month, but probably more when I'm inspired.  
**

**In my story, I have a council in Konoha. It is comprised of the clan heads, Danzo (who represented the non-clan shinobi populace), and one civilian to represent them. It would be wrong to have civilians living in a place and unable to influence it. Mirroring the shinobi council is a civilian council, covering things like taxes, approving festivals and taking care of real estate, boring things like that. There's one retired shinobi on it, Homura, Hiruzen's old teammate. During the Kyuubi attack, he aided in the fighting, losing an arm in the process - at least, in my story.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto or have any influence on Kishimoto. If I did, Team Gai would all be pretty fast, since we all know how motivated Gai is about his students and training.  
**

* * *

_One Year Before The Kyuubi Attack _

Jiraiya guffawed as Minato covered his face to hide the blush coming up. "Sensei," Minato sputtered, "I do _not_ need Hiraishin seals in the women's bathhouses!" They were sitting on top of the face newly carved into the Hokage Mountain. It was early in the morning, since Jiraiya had to leave before noon if he wanted to meet his latest contact concerning Orochimaru's whereabouts. The October-born mist above the village didn't make it any less beautiful, and in fact, they had chosen this spot because of how the sun's rays were casting pink and orange hues through the sky, which they could see for miles from on top of the mountain.

"I know you, Minato! You can't pretend you haven't thought of doing that with Kushina," Jiraiya stated. Out of a sudden feeling of self preservation, he didn't say the rest out loud. _I know I would_ _with Tsunade_, he thought, not wanting to risk the buxom blonde hearing about it from Minato later. Just as his fantasy was starting to take hold, though, Minato tapped him on the arm, his face suddenly serious. He wanted to ask Jiraiya something, knowing that the man had trained under the Sandaime.

"Jiraiya... How am I going to be a good Hokage? I might have destroyed a good chunk of Iwa's army, but that's only got them hating us more. We're uneasy with almost all the Great Hidden Villages, and even with the Hiraishin, I couldn't keep my students safe; much less a whole village." He stared into Jiraiya's eyes, and Jiraiya could see the pure care and concern he held for the village. He gave Minato a grin, remembering the old Toad's prophecy. He had faith in his student.

"I know you, Minato. When you set your eyes on something, you make it happen. And you care about this village more than anyone else I know. As my sensei would say, your Will of Fire is strong; you can do it," Jiraiya ended, not a doubt in his mind about his student's ability. Minato saw that in him, and began to relax. "Plus," the Toad Sage added with a chuckle, "Maybe everyone'll learn the Hiraishin from you! We'd all be yellow flashes - and what I could do with it..."

As Jiraiya's eyes glazed over in his fantasy, something about his words clicked in Minato's head. His lips curved into his signature confident smirk, and he stood up, taking one last look at this visage of his beloved village. He laid a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder, snapping him out of it - it was _such_ a great life he had planned out with the Hiraishin. Grumbling, he glanced up at Minato. "You've given me a great idea, sensei, as always." As soon as his hand left Jiraiya's shoulder, he disappeared, a yellow flash the only signal to Jiraiya that his student hadn't vanished into thin air.

"And you interrupted my time switching between bathhouses in three different villages," Jiraiya grumbled some more, getting up. He grew a smile, though; every time Minato got that look about him, something great resulted.

* * *

_Four Months Before The Kyuubi Attack_

The women cracked their knuckles, glaring at Jiraiya. He'd been a menace for years, and they were _not_ afraid of his Sannin status. He gulped, holding his hands up in surrender. The women began marching towards him, slowly. And then - "GET HIM!" a purple haired woman in the front shouted. The apocalypse began. Jiraiya, though, was prepared. He brought his hands together, and flashed through five seals. Ram. Boar. Ox. Dog. Snake. He closed his eyes and concentrated on a piece of broken fence-post he had seen on the ground on the way there.

Just as the first fist made contact, his body puffed into smoke, making them suddenly stop; was it poison? They scrambled back, suddenly fearing what the Sannin had in store.

When the smoke disappeared, all they saw was a piece of broken wood. "Is it a Henge?", one of the kunoichi asked. Knowing Henges could dispel when someone shot chakra through it, a braver kunoichi approached and did just that. With her foot. Violently.

The wood clattered against the wall of the bathhouse, and they blinked in confusion. Had he just... disappeared? Their awe for the Sannin's prowess increa-

"YAHOO!" Jiraiya yelled, "HE FINISHED IT!", they suddenly heard from across the street. Several of them adopted angry faces yet again and the kunoichi of the group, as well as the braver civilian women, climbed over the walls and began tracking down their prey. "Ow, owowowOW! Not my prec_iouuuuussss!_" his voice suddenly got a lot higher, and the sounds of fists pounding into human flesh echoed on the streets. Needless to say, the bathhouses had less traffic that day.

* * *

"... and the seal takes care of most of the intricacies of the jutsu, which makes it possible for even Academy Students to learn. It takes five seals and not much more chakra than a Henge, usually." He took in a small breath, before continuing. "The amount of chakra necessary depends on how much chakra the object you are switching with has. If you simply switch with some air, then the chakra used is comparable to keeping up a Henge for a minute, though that takes a good amount of control. It's easier to switch with solid objects, like a rock, though it takes more chakra. The seal makes sure the user isn't going to switch with something rooted to the ground, because that would take too much force to uproot the object, and therefore, chakra. If a ninja tries to switch with a building, for example, it isn't going to work." He glanced at the faces of the council, trying to gauge their feelings.

Shikaku spoke up first. "What's to prevent others from reverse engineering the seal, if a Konoha-nin is captured?" Minato nodded, thankful Shikaku brought that up. Both he and Shikaku were new to their respective positions, but Minato had quickly learned that the Nara's advice and caution was always to be heeded.

"Let me show you. Come on in, Jiraiya," the Fourth Hokage spoke, and through the doors sauntered Jiraiya in all his Toad Sage glory. He was looking no worse for wear after the beating yesterday. Knowing this was an important day for Minato, he had made sure he didn't sustain actual damage - but _damn,_ he would have sworn those women were Tsunade-reincarnates. "Show them your Kawarimi seal." Glad to do so, he pulled off his vest and part of his shirt kimono, turning around to reveal the upper left portion of his back. There was...

"There's nothing there," Inoichi Yamanaka noted, wondering what their new Hokage was up to.

They couldn't see it, but Jiraiya grinned. Minato let his smirk slip on. "That's the beauty of it, and something I needed Jiraiya's help for. The beauty of the seal is that it gathers a tiny bit of natural energy from the surroundings, and uses it to hide the seal physically. And because it's using natural energy to do so, doujutsu will have a hard time penetrating it. Care to confirm?" He glanced in between Hiashi and Fugaku, whom both activated their respective doujutsu.

Fugaku widened his eyes, but Hiashi's mask did not slip. He did, however, speak.

"There is enough to see some sort of seal there, but the seal itself appears to be blocked from close inspection." He shut off his Byakugan, a little unsettled at how there seemed to be one more thing to one-up the Byakugan. His only comfort was that Fugaku seemed to have the same trouble, a scowl forming on his face. However, they both had too much respect for Minato to actually dislike him for it. The opposite; it only confirmed how much of a genius he was, inventing something that would make sure Konoha ninja would be better protected from every imaginable threat. Creating a version of the Hiraishin that anyone could use, and making sure there was a system in place to prevent enemies from getting their hands on the technique...

Shikaku nodded his head. "That is all I needed to see. I approve," he said, before slouching down as much as he could while still being respectable. He figured the Yondaime had already convinced most of the others of his point; it would take a while to institute the change in the curriculum, and before that, all the teachers and experienced ninja were expected to have a handle on the jutsu, that way the new generation would be able to have some help. There were some factors untouched, but Shikaku figured Fugaku would bring them up. The Uchihas, after all, were Konoha's main police force.

As the discussion on how to begin implementing this continued, Minato allowed himself a rare feeling of pride. He had done something that he was _sure_ couldn't go wrong. The only possible way to break the seal and uncover its inner workings would be if someone had both a mastery of Senjutsu and seals greater than Minato and Jiraiya's combined knowledge. There couldn't possibly be anyone out there like that.

Fugaku finally brought up the point Shikaku expected him to. "What about defectors? Even if they cannot share the seal's secrets, surely, if this jutsu is as powerful as you claim, it will be all the easier for criminals to infiltrate." In response, Minato bit his finger, flashing through a series of seals, and slammed his hand onto the ground. A scroll appeared in a puff of smoke. Once it faded, the group saw a scroll. Right now, it only one one name: Jiraiya's.

Jiraiya grinned, opening his mouth. "The Kawarimi technique also draws from elements of summoning techniques. As such, we could make it so that only those whose names, signed in blood, on this or the other scrolls Minato created can use the technique. It's unlike actual summoning contracts in that the summoner's signature permanently ties them with the summons. For this, the signature is easily removed, and once it is, no more Kawarimi!" Minato let the doujutsu wielders inspect the scroll; they were of a very suspicious sort, but so far he had been able to make it through the council meetings. He didn't have Hiruzen's long political history with all the clans, which he was grateful for. He had started his tenure with respect from them, which had made things go all the more easily.

He knew of changes he wanted to make, though, which would certainly make enemies. The Hyuuga curse seal, for one. Hiruzen was adamant he not get involved in clan affairs; it wasn't in the Hokage's power. But he'd promised one of his dear friends, Hizashi, that he would get rid of the curse seal even if it cost him his life. He just couldn't stand the situation; and he had never backed down on one of his promises.

Later that night, as he lay in bed with Kushina, he reflected on his life. He knew it was going to be hard from there on out, but... This was the only way he saw of being a good Kage. Inspiring his people to get along, and accept and understand each other fully. It was reminiscent of Jiraiya's dream of world peace. _I believe it can happen_, Jiraiya had said all those years ago. _Pe__ople understanding each other. Forgiving each other for their mistakes, moving on, and embracing the fact that we're in this huge world together. Embracing how in our hearts, we're all the same, we all have grief, love, hate, loneliness... I still believe it can happen, Minato, after being through a Great Shinobi War. If that couldn't break my belief, then I don't think anything will. And that just has to be a sign that it can happen._ Minato mentally agreed with his teacher, and felt an inner peace. He didn't know if he could make it happen for the world; but maybe, just maybe, he could change Konoha for the better.

_I'll try my best._

* * *

Jiraiya cried on the ground where Minato, his prized student and great friend, had been buried after the attack. He stayed like that awhile. Eventually, his aching heart convinced him to shakily stand up. "I'll help you keep Konoha safe, Minato..." And though it was hard, he knew he had to go on. "I knew you believed in my dream; so I have to keep believing, too. I - I know it's only going to happen if we - if we keep believing."

He had lost his love, his best friend, and his student, amongst other great comrades. But he would not lose his spirit, nor his dream.

* * *

Only the council, Jiraiya, and Kakashi had been told of Naruto's condition as a container. The Sandaime stared at the council; he doubted Jiraiya or Kakashi had forsaken his trust. He had hoped the council would at least _mention_ the fact that civilians were beginning to hear of Naruto's condition. That hadn't happened yet, as though the topic was being danced around. He was so _tired_ of this game. He had enjoyed almost two whole years of retired life with his wife before she had been taken from him by the Kyuubi, and it hadn't been nearly enough. He held onto those memories; some of the best he had had.

He suddenly stood up. He interrupted talk of a potential trade route with Suna with a strong voice. "I believe this has gone on long enough." At their stares, he continued, this time a hard look coming into his eyes. Shikaku didn't dare say it, but he knew what was coming. _Troublesome_. "When the village starts knowing, suddenly, who our local Jinchuuriki is, how long do you figure it takes for other villages to find out? To rally their forces, and take advantage of our village weakened by the _very beast_ whose container was leaked by a council member? Kumo already has two Jinchuuriki - obtaining a third would give them the power to do whatever they wished. And yet..." His killing intent spiked, "A _traitor_ among us decides to leak S-class secrets regardless!" The civilian member shrunk back, terrified eyes belying his lack of resistance to killing intent. He shook, and Hiruzen turned his eyes on him.

With the killing intent focused on him, there was no way he could keep it in. "I-I'm..." the man said, his black locks draping and sticking to his suddenly sticky forehead. Hiruzen's glare forced the words out of him, as though it would be worse to lie than admit it. "I did it."

* * *

The Sandaime stood on a podium, his haggard face letting the people of Konoha know they weren't the only ones that had been through a lot. "My dear people of Konoha," he began, his voice projected with a special Fuuton technique, "These are perilous times. As we recover, we are at our most vulnerable. And yet there is an emergency rising, an emergency that could draw enemy villages to us and destroy us for what we have." He certainly had their attention now.

"An S-rank secret has been leaked by one of our own. I cannot punish everyone it has been leaked to, for they did not know; but this secret must stay secret to Konoha, never to be shared. Anyone caught sharing this will be punished by death, as our traitor shall be. This secret, for those who now know, concerns the status of the Kyuubi," he said. He knew it was vague; but there had to be a public announcement, and there also had to be no one else who knew the truth. He didn't see any other way to mitigate the damage, and if he waited any longer, the whole village would know; and then Iwa, or Kiri, or Kumo would know.

"You may know that ANBU shadow the streets, as do the Konoha Police Force. I would like to remind you all that this village means everything to me; and I will make sure it is protected. Do not share this secret," he drew in a breath and closed his eyes, glad it was almost over. "And let us pay our respects to Rock Tajiro, who lost his wife to the Kyuubi and decided that the best course of action was to become a traitor. But I also lost my wife to the Kyuubi; yet I did not lose my loyalty and love for Konoha." His heart ached at bringing her loss up, especially in front of his village; but he felt it would be best to share his feelings. As Jiraiya would say, _If they know you feel like they do, they're bound to understand_. The Sandaime hoped his student knew more than he did. "Let this be a lesson for us all," he ended, and left the podium. The angry whispers followed him as he made his way through the crowd; it was sad to acknowledge, but he knew there would be at least a few more that would risk spreading the secret.

He hated the death all around him; but if he had to cauterize this wound in Konoha with fire, he would.

* * *

In an orphanage still standing from the attack, a baby, only a year old, began crying. His black eyes squinted shut, he didn't see the caretaker standing over him, but calmed as she picked him up and held a bottle to his mouth. As she fed him, she remembered what the doctor had said about his chakra. "You're a weird one, little guy," the woman said, tickling his bushy eyebrows. The babe started giggling, prompting a smile. After a while of this cute exchange, the caretaker sighed, setting him back down. She couldn't spend _all_ her time with him, after all. Her eyes hardened. No, she even had to take care of that... _demon_ in the room next door.

During the night, a blonde newborn began crying. No one came to his aid.

* * *

**As always, feel free to criticize. I don't have a beta reader, so mistakes or tips would be great. I'm very glad I'm doing third person now, it comes easier to me.**


	3. Dependence

**AN: I don't have much to say, other than - the more follows I get, the more I'm motivated to work on this. College life is busy, and you guys are partially the motivation behind this. I'd love to see more follows and reviews! I'm open to the criticism.  
**

**Side note: At this point, Kakashi's main experiences are going through the Third Great Shinobi War, and after that was over, he joined the ANBU. After only three years (six months after the Kyuubi attack in my story), he became an ANBU Captain (they had a lot of slots open). After four years of serving in this position, the Sandaime had him step down from the Captain position, concerned for his mental health (extended stays in the ANBU are not recommended, and being an ANBU Captain is _much_ more stressful). So it's been 4.5 years since the Kyuubi attack when he is made to step down.  
**

* * *

A year after Hinata Hyuuga was nearly kidnapped by Kumo and Hizashi was killed, several things of note to various people occurred.

A rapper with the stage name "Killer Bee" began to gain an international presence with his first international tour, though the tour did not include Konoha. The Sandaime had felt that the Raikage's brother would not be taken with much joy, despite the fact that B was simply a civilian.

Itachi Uchiha first activated his Sharingan at age 9, assuring Fugaku that even if he died trying to make sure the Uchiha ruled Konoha, he would have a strong successor.

Kakashi Hatake was made to step down from ANBU Captain due to concerns about his mental health, though after Kakashi begged him, the Sandaime allowed him to remain in the ANBU on a probationary notice while mental evaluations took place.

Another event that occurred was of particular note, the Sandaime noted to himself as he stared at Danzo. The old war hawk remained stoic in the face of this impending confrontation, deciding to remain silent and see what stance Hiruzen would take. After what seemed like centuries, the Sarutobi sighed and pulled out a folder. Hiruzen flipped it open, letting Danzo see the pictures of children being mercilessly trained, the report detailing some procedures of the training that involved killing off emotions. There was also a copied drawing of the seal found on the tongues of one of the children.

"When Jiraiya brought this news to me, I wasn't surprised at the methods; I wasn't surprised at the seals on their tongues, or the fact you were seeking to make emotionless machines." The Sandaime looked his age in this moment. He didn't want to have to be firm in front of his allies, only his enemies - but now, he wasn't sure which Danzo was. "What I _was _surprised at was the fact that you hadn't informed me, Danzo." The old Hokage looked at Danzo with empathetic eyes, trying his best to understand what the man had felt so strongly that he went around Hiruzen's approval. He knew Danzo's main goal was the health and strength of the village. "We are on the _same side_," he emphasized, feeling every bit as old as he was. He was rusted, but he still cared.

"You would have never approved what I did to train those children," the war hawk stated simply.

"You're right; but I can tell your logic behind it. You took in orphans, which was a great number after the Kyuubi attack, and sought to train them in the ninja arts under your own special program. I will admit, the Academy is not what it could be. Konoha needed its forces restored." Danzo relaxed, as the Sandaime acknowledged his reasoning. Perhaps the results wouldn't be so bad… "But your methods are _not_ acceptable. Kidnapping orphans is _not_ the way to do this. Konoha is a village where we fight for our village's survival because we _want_ to, not because we are _told_ to. Using emotionless tools is the _easy_ way. I never took you to be the one to take the easy way out, Danzo."

Danzo narrowed his one eye. He was about to speak, but Hiruzen held up his hand and focused a hard look at Danzo. "I am your _Hokage_. I was chosen to lead this village, and you decided that my efforts were not good enough, and instead began your own schemes. I am not perfect; but I need you to work _with_ me, Danzo, not against. If you accept my terms, however, you will not be put to death for acting against the good of the village." He let that hang in the air for a moment.

Danzo could feel the burn inside him at the implication that he was not acting for the good of the village, but Hiruzen had gotten all the proof he needed to put Danzo to death - and then some. _Jiraiya is more skilled than I thought_, Danzo thought, pinning the found information on him. His stealth and his spy network was wider than ever, after a renewed effort from him after the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga heiress. "Well?" Hiruzen pressed, already knowing the answer.

Danzo knew he could still contribute to the village, no matter what the Sandaime did. He bowed his head in submittance. "I will accept whatever terms you have for me."

"I-I din't do it! I din't!" Naruto shouted at the orphanage director's claims. The Hokage stood by, staring stone-faced at Mrs. Kaira Vesputin. Naruto looked between the Hokage and Kaira, knowing what had been said were lies. The only time he had punched other kids was when they hurt him, and yet they never got punished. Only he did; they always got icecream , and full meals, but he was punished with being locked in his room, and no food, and too many other things. "I pwomise!" And… He didn't want the old man to hate him too.

"Naruto never did those things!" A boy with bushy eyebrows beside him affirmed. Kaira sighed, turning to her Lord Hokage.

"Over half of the caretakers here have said they've seen Naruto bully the other kids. You don't need to take Lee, too - he's a sweet boy, and only gets involved to try and break up fighting. But Naruto's been reported as a menace, terrorizing the other children, taking their food, picking on them, and more."

"That's not true!" "Nuh uh!" Lee and Naruto chorused, but as Kaira kept telling Hiruzen these lies, Naruto began sniffling. Soon, tears came full-on to the boy, and Lee could only look on, powerless. He couldn't change how the older kids picked on Naruto, he wasn't strong enough. And he couldn't change how these adults seemed to pick on him, because Lee wasn't old enough to change that, wasn't trusted to be doing anything more than defending Naruto…

The Hokage eventually stopped speaking with Kaira, and turned towards the boys. His heart melted at the sight, and he could feel that Naruto was not to blame. Kaira herself wasn't; he had hand-picked her to direct the orphanage after the Kyuubi attack, and being a former medic-nin, he was sure she could take care of the children without bias. But her workers were a different story; she had to believe what they said, and in the end, that was the only proof they had. Naruto almost never seemed to have any injuries, while the other children often had bruises, often blaming it on the boy.

With a heavy heart, he knelt down to the boys. "I have to believe her, boys," he told them, even though he indeed did believe otherwise. "When so many people agree, and I wasn't there… There's not much I can do," he said, and Naruto looked utterly heartbroken that his idol didn't believe him. He was innocent; why couldn't that just be all the reason needed to be believed?

Hiruzen forced a smile; he was too good at it after his many years of being Hokage. "I don't blame you, though, " he said, and rubbed their heads. "Lee, you protecting Naruto is heroic. I wish I had someone as diligent as you," he told the boy, before focusing his gaze on Naruto. "And Naruto, I'll make sure you have a place to stay. You can't stay here anymore." At that statement... Naruto's face broke his heart, "But you can still visit Lee," he said, not letting his unease show in his smile or his face. The blond's expression recovered somewhat; at least he'd be able to see his best friend in the whole wide world.

While the Sandaime was leading Naruto down the street, the young boy a bit cheered by ice cream that Hiruzen had bought for them both, Naruto turned toward him. While still rubbing ice cream off of his lips (and getting it on his hands as a result), the boy asked something that made the old man rethink his opinion on the boy.

"Why is your smile so sad sm'times?"

Hiruzen tightened his hold on Naruto's non-sticky hand, and could only answer with complete honesty to this wonderful, wonderful child: "It's sad… because I can't always make things better," he said to the child, not expecting him to understand.

Naruto stopped walking and turned to the old man, looking at him with big, innocent eyes. "It shouldn't be sad then," he began, confusing the Sarutobi. Naruto gave him a smile. "You made it better fer'me," the boy said, and a little hole in Hiruzen's heart was filled. This boy had been through so much, yet… Here he was, comforting an old man and convincing him he still had something to fight for.

As they kept walking, the old man discovered he still had a true smile in him.

* * *

Naruto sat on an old armchair too big for him and kept looking at the man with the Wolf mask. It had been a month since his exile from the orphanage, and while the Sandaime was figuring out his living situation, Naruto had been temporarily headquartered at an ANBU training facility inside the village. Yet he had not seen a single trace of a Wolf mask; not until now.

Now, he was in a relatively nice apartment in an apartment complex that was home to mainly older Genin and Chuunin, and sometimes their families. The Hokage had brought him there just an hour before, and now there was this Wolf mask guy here. It would have been more confusing to him if he had been older, the fact that he had not seen this man with the Wolf mask at the ANBU facility at all, but he was still young. "Wait," Naruto mumbled to himself, "Old man said 'dere'd be someone here..." He looked up at the silent ANBU, who still hadn't done anything, except... Naruto widened his eyes at the man's clenching fists, and scrambled back. "Don' hurt me!" He yelled, fear welling up in him; he had never had a good experience with clenched fists.

It took Wolf all his effort to unclench his fists, even though Naruto's reaction made him want to punch somebody. Multiple somebodies, in fact. He wasn't sure he could take this assignment that the Sandaime had given him; helping Naruto live on his own and teaching him how to do it all himself, all at that young age. Some deep part of him realized that confronting the emotions and memories he had when Naruto was involved would be a good thing, but... he just couldn't. He had lost everything, and he couldn't stare at his sensei's son in the eyes and tell him that everything would be okay, that he was sorry Naruto was treated that way, making that connection with the boy was too painful right now.

So instead, he used his ANBU training, and gave an emotionless answer, removing himself from the situation; Wolf would take care of Naruto, not Kakashi. "I won't hurt you," he tonelessly said and turned around. He investigated the kitchen's contents, unwilling to see how Naruto relaxed, how the fear in his eyes, for the most part, disappeared. Seeing a plentiful variety of food stocked up in the cabinets and refrigerator (thanks to the Hokage), he said, "What do you want to eat?" He still didn't turn around.

But he didn't have to in order to feel the pain from Naruto's response. "A-anythin' I can have," he said, "Anythin', please," he repeated. Instead of yelling for a favorite food or for ice cream, the boy wanted anything, _anything_. The only times he had had a response like that was in prisoners who had been starved.

He almost couldn't keep from pounding the wall, his insides screamed. For some reason being Wolf just wasn't removed enough. Shaking slightly, he began preparing a meal for Naruto. _Why did the Sandaime have to pick _**_me_**_?_

A short while later, after Naruto had had his meal, he gave a glance to Wolf. "Ano," he began, hoping it would be okay, "C-can I see Lee?" Wolf nodded, getting up. Although it would be quicker to Shunshin there, that would involve_ touching_ the boy, and he wasn't sure he could do that without clenching his fists or doing something else to scare the boy.

As they walked, Wolf could see the curious glances toward him, being an ANBU out in public, turn into stares at Naruto. Often, the civilians' eyes would then get a hard glint in them and they'd scowl, but dared not do anything with an ANBU right next to the boy. Naruto shrank at the gazes; he had not been out in public much before, but it was a lot like the orphanage so far.

Not knowing where the orphanage was relative to his new apartment, Wolf was leading. So when the two finally came upon the orphanage, the first person who saw them only saw Wolf. This was one of the caretakers, who was affectionately rubbing the heads of the children who were about to go play in the yard. Seeing Wolf walking toward her, she dismissed them and offered the ANBU a smile that disappeared as soon as she saw the boy trailing behind him. Naruto's gaze was stuck to the floor, his initial excitement for seeing Lee now almost entirely gone. But he had to see Lee. Summoning whatever bravery he had, he stepped forward. "I wanna see Lee," he said in his most courageous voice, looking up at the caretaker unflinchingly.

But a wrinkle of a nose later, and his little heart was almost regretting it. She felt her distaste and anger rising at the boy. About to give him a verbal lashing, she reconsidered as she remembered there was an ANBU by his side. She had planned for this, she recalled. Resisting the urge to smirk, she instead offered a somewhat piteous look, the most she could pull off considering this was the demon boy in front of her. "Lee doesn't want to see you, _honey_," she barely spat out the name, thinking it would make the ANBU believe she cared. Wolf, unsurprisingly, was able to detect her distaste for Naruto. "He asked to never see you again."

Naruto widened his eyes. "S'NOT TRUE!" He shouted, his heart protesting against the thought. Lee was his best friend in the world; he _had_ to want to see him! His emotions taking over, he began running to the door, trying to get through.

"Stop!" She shouted as he ran up the steps. She was angry, not fearful, as she probably should have been considering she thought he was the Kyuubi. "Stop, you de-"

Before she could work out the rest of the words and potentially be executed for treason, Wolf appeared behind Naruto and grabbed him by the waist, pulling him back. He ignored the squirming, the thought that this was his sensei's son he was restraining, how his sensei would be so disappointed in him, and all he thought was that he was Wolf, and had to be a proper ANBU member of Konoha. He was Wolf, his other thoughts receding. He was Wolf, and he had a duty to Konoha.

"LEMME GO!" Naruto screamed, tears beginning to crawl down his face. Wolf didn't, and instead shunshin'd back to Naruto's apartment. The sudden change in scenery, as well as the nausea accompanied in the jutsu for those who weren't used to it, made Naruto suddenly stop, coughing as he tried to keep the vomit from coming up. Wolf set him down, and Naruto swallowed heavily. As soon as he got his breath back, Naruto opened his mouth.

"Why'd-ju stop me?!" he yelled.

Wolf's voice was flat, emotionless. "You are now considered an adult in Konoha, needed in order to have your own apartment. Had you forced your way into the orphanage, it would be considered trespassing without consent, cause for many different punishments. As an ANBU, I am responsible to prevent crimes when not on a mission outside Konoha's walls when I can."

Naruto didn't understand most of Wolf's response. For the most part, the only part he understood was that Wolf's voice was not angry. He sniffled. "Why... why can't I see Lee?"

Wolf's dispassionate voice rose again. "Lee doesn't want to see you."

"That's not true! S'just what she said, she's a liar!" Naruto claimed, not wanting to believe otherwise. Otherwise.. he had no friends, no one to play with, no one who was also picked on, no one who would call him his little brother... No one. He hiccuped, feeling the tears coming on.

"It's what she said. As an ANBU of Konoha, I must evaluate conflicts of interest without bias. She is a caretaker in a highly rated orphanage, whereas your file states you were kicked out due to unruly behavior and bullying towards other children. The most logical conclusion is that Lee doesn't want to see you, realizing how unruly you were. Even if that is not true," Naruto glanced up, hopeful, "She is entrusted with the care of the children in the orphanage. She has higher authority than you on deciding if a child can be visited."

"I-I wanna see Lee," Naruto mumbled, as he began to bawl, not understanding most of Wolf's points. As he cried, Wolf reviewed the situation again, and agreed with his previous actions; as an emotionless, faceless ANBU of Konoha, he had done his duty.

But as Naruto sat there, crying, Wolf decided it would be more useful to investigate the apartment and make sure nothing had changed since they had left.

But really, it was that Wolf couldn't hold up against this child's tears for long. As a proper ANBU of Konoha, Wolf had to make sure his mask, both physical and emotional, did not break.

* * *

**I feel like I could have done better with this chapter, but I'm not quite sure how. Anyone got any comments/tips? ****Otherwise, thank you for reading. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but I hope to see you then.  
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	4. Alone

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, the follows, and favorites.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or influence Kishimoto at all. If I did, the genin from Hidden Rain in the Chuunin Exams would have been more of a threat.**

* * *

It was easier to think of him as The Boy.

Wolf would always be the one to collect the groceries to bring back to The Boy's apartment, since he didn't know how to read. He wouldn't be able to tell if he was being cheated or not. This was one thing Wolf had to fix, if he wanted The Boy to be self-sufficient and get this assignment done. Therefore, he had been bringing home children's stories along with groceries. Those who saw him asked if he had settled down, and Gai had proclaimed with his usual fervor that he was good to be contributing to the youth of the village. Of course, he denied any such accusations. It was just an assignment, watching The Boy and teaching him to be self-sufficient. Sure, it involved reading to him, showing him how to clean things, cooking of very basic things, and other such tasks. But this was not parenting; this was a mission.

One thing Naruto was missing was interpreting facial expressions. Though Wolf had on more than one mask, Naruto could not see even his eyes under Wolf's ANBU mask. Naruto did many expressions himself naturally, but other than occasional visits from the Hokage, Naruto's only company was Wolf.

So he missed out. But when Wolf was out, or otherwise didn't need to be doing something for the child, Naruto had nothing to do. He so wanted to please Wolf, who seemed to never say anything nice to him - but to Naruto, this was _so much better_ than the orphanage. So to be more accurate... Naruto wanted to do well so that Wolf wouldn't leave him. This meant that when Wolf wasn't there, Naruto was trying to cook on his own, clean on his own, even repeat the letters and words Wolf showed him, and recently try writing down letters - though usually more like messy scribbles. Key word, _trying_.

And so a year passed. Naruto was young enough that he eventually stopped thinking about his lost friend, Lee. What helped is that Naruto almost never went outside the apartment, for fear of the looks he would get; so interacting with people other than Wolf and the Hokage was foreign to him. Yet in the children's stories, the child always had friends, whether animal or human.

_I want to have a friend_, Naruto thought to himself as he stared hard at the page in front of him. _Friend_, the page read, above it two boys playing with some ball. Friend. It was one word he made sure to know how to read. A part of him ached to learn all those things he saw in the pages, like those games with balls or sticks, or something Wolf called _imagination_. Somehow, with _imagination_, some of the people in these books would become pirates, exploring to find a treasure. Even when they didn't find it, it'd be alright, because the people had fun - with their _friends_.

His stomach grumbled. Wolf was out, preparing for something, he had said. Naruto clambered from the bed too large for him and ambled to the kitchen. _I can do it myself_, Naruto thought to himself as he pulled a chair up to the counter to be able to reach the kettle. Wolf had only started trying to show him how to cook a couple weeks ago, starting with this thing called _Instant Ramen_. It was the simplest thing, apparently, but all they had talked about was what _not_ to do. _I can do it_, he thought determinedly, _so he do__n't leave._

* * *

Wolf stared down at the stone marked with all their names, his eyes concentrating on one name in particular: Namikaze Minato's. He had been there for an hour already, remembering how Wolf hadn't been good enough to save his sensei the pain of losing not just one, but _two_ of his students. Wolf was remembering the second time right now, and clenched his fists as he ran through the painful moment again and again.

* * *

_I can't_, a younger Kakashi thought to himself, his Wolf mask laying broken a few kilometers behind him. He had broken his emotionless pledge during his ANBU service; he had begged to go on this mission, and it had been granted. But now... _I can't give up_, he pleaded with himself, trying not to think about the team that was also left behind him. They were also broken; their bones shattered, their blood spilled, and their masks uncovered, leaving only mangled faces behind. Kakashi winced; this is what he _didn't_ want to think about. Instead he needed to focus; he could track the ambushers to their hideout, which Jiraiya had found (through his spy network) to be one of Orochimaru's old labs. _She is there_, Kakashi insisted to himself, remembering the mission objective: Find Rin.

It was more complicated than that, of course. Plans were discovered implicating Kirigakure as a potential hostile entity, and Kakashi had only had it confirmed just a few minutes ago. When one of the Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist ambushed you, you didn't survive. Kakashi was lucky he did, but he didn't _feel_ lucky. He felt the small cuts on his arms as he would barely parry the man's attacks, he felt the blood that wasn't all his sticky against his forehead, and he even still felt the fear he did when presented with this man who could survive _any_ attack without a scratch. It was unlike anything he had seen. _Mangetsu Hozuki_, he had declared, _the last name you will ever know._ His ability to liquify his body at will, use Suiton exceedingly well, and the ability of his sword to gain different shapes using his chakra... This man was a Kage-level opponent, and Kakashi had barely gotten off a Raiton jutsu as he was finishing off the last of his team.

So long as he got to Rin before Mangetsu recovered, he could do this. Kakashi applied more chakra, blasting the branches off of the trees he was traveling on. After the fight, he had a limited amount of chakra left; but that wouldn't matter if Rin was...

He clenched his fists and tried brushing away the thoughts. But one lingered_, _despite his ANBU training, despite his situation, despite the pain he was in. The one thing that kept him going.

_I promised Obito I'd keep her safe._

Suddenly he applied just enough chakra to the branch he was on to stick himself to it, stopping his momentum and painfully stretching his legs. He'd heard something - there it was again, a rustling, and footsteps. His nose twitched as he took a sniff - he had been spending some time working on his tracking skills in order to find Rin, and it was paying off. He could smell sweat, obvious for any ninja who had been traveling for awhile, but there was a scent amongst this crowd that didn't seem to belong. In fact, it was a feminine smell. His heart started racing. _Rin!_ His mind shouted at him to go full throttle and barge in, just as Kakashi imagined Obito would. "Damn it," Kakashi whispered, thumping his fist against his thigh. He _wasn't_ Obito. He wasn't rash, and sometimes he hated himself for not being able to just run in and save the day. It was more complicated than that.

It started off easily enough. Tracking them wasn't particularly hard, and he imagined that Kirigakure ninja were too used to simply hiding in the mist. When he saw what looked like Rin surrounded by a few of the ninja, he almost missed a step and gave himself away, but his ANBU training was good for _something,_ at least. There was a group of about fourteen ninja, all of whom looked to be at or near jounin-level based on the way they held themselves. They didn't dilly-dally, each ninja performing his or her task with strict professionalism. Rin herself wasn't being carried, however; she was walking herself. _Why isn't she fighting? _Kakashi asked himself. There had to be a reason; maybe they had threatened her... His blood boiled at the thought.

They weren't perfect, no matter how much they tried to be. Two ninja were in the back of the group, who occasionally set some basic traps on the ground to deter anyone from following them. Kakashi avoided them rather easily. As they moved, he thought of a plan. _I don't know when they'll stop,_ Kakashi thought, _and I'm running low on stamina_.He had to do this soon.

He formed some seals, thanking Obito yet again as he used a Doton jutsu he had copied during the war. "Doton," he whispered, "Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu)." He slowly dropped into the ground, using his chakra to space the earth around him so he could 'swim' through the ground. It took a minute to reach the two ninja at the back of the group. His hands shot up, aiming to grab their ankles and drag them down into the ground. His hands closed around their ankles, and he -

\- flew out of the ground as the two ninja jumped up, bringing him out under them. He held onto their ankles; thinking fast, he pulled them down and twisted his body, shooting his left leg out at the one to his left and his fist at the one on his right. The one to his left grunted and slammed into a tree a few feet away, while the one on his right experienced a fist to the cheek driving him into the ground. Kakashi entered a brief freefall.

Which made it harder when a volley of shuriken came flying at him from where the group ahead was. He pulled his makeshift headband up to uncover his sharingan, quickly drew out a kunai, and expertly deflected the shuriken. Landing on the ground, he glanced at the two ninja he had attacked before - and cursed as he saw only puddles where bodies were supposed to be. A Kiri ninja walked up, confident, as the rest of the group assumed ready stances - about half hovering around Rin. She was looking at the ground, and not at him. He couldn't reveal his connection to her just yet - for now, all they knew was that Kakashi was just another ninja sent out to rescue a comrade. At least, he hoped that's all they knew. Otherwise, they may mess with his mind..

"You look a little confused," the Kiri squad leader chuckled out. He had a Kirigakure headband that covered his entire head, and a scar ran down from his ear to his chin. This was Urudu Kotsukei, Kakashi recalled from the Bingo Book (having a Sharingan did have its benefits), an A-ranked ninja who was primarily known for his - _god damn it_ \- sensor abilities. He leveled a glare at Urudu.

"Not anymore, Urudu Kotsukei, A-ranked sensor from Kirigakure," Kakashi stated, showing what he knew about the man's abilities. Urudu raised his eyebrow.

"Looks like we have a smart one here. A sharingan, huh? Where can I get me one of those?" He smirked, and Kakashi's anger began bubbling. He pushed it down, though - this was for Rin. He needed to keep a calm head. Urudu narrowed his eyes, gaining a little bit of wariness; though this silver-haired ninja looked young, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.

Kakashi swiped his hand up, releasing two shuriken towards Urudu. He wasn't going to entertain this guy any longer. He then dashed forward and left, jumping to a tree. As he rebounded off of it toward Urudu, he released the last shuriken he had caught from the previous encounter. Urudu considered simply deflecting them, but instead zigzagged around them, before bending his knees and jumping up to where Kakashi was in the air. Kakashi sped through some seals, ending in the tiger seal. "Katon," he breathed, "_Hōsenka_ _no Jutsu!_ (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Technique)". He spat out a dozen small fireballs that bulleted toward Urudu, spread out enough that he couldn't lean to the side to dodge, but still tight enough that he'd get some bad burns if he got hi-

Kakashi widened his eyes as Urudu _somehow_ twisted and turned around the fireballs in midair, showing off what seemed like master acrobat skills He didn't have much time to be surprised, as Urudu met him midair with a kunai. The clashed and fell to the earth together. Trading blows, Kakashi could see that his sharingan made up the experience and strength gap between them. Urudu stopped trading blows as he lifted up a leg and kicked Kakashi away. "Oof," he grunted, rolling head over heels back onto his feet.

His chakra was running low, and Obito's sharingan ate it so greedily; he couldn't afford a full scale fight right now. Kakashi sped through the seals for his Headhunter Jutsu, and Urudu cursed as Kakashi quickly melted into the ground. "Form around the objective," Urudu spat out to his team, and dashed back towards Rin. He could sense Kakashi just fine, at least... He narrowed his eyes. There were five chakra signatures under the ground, not just one. _Some sort of clone technique?_ he wondered. "Prepare for clones of the enemy," he warned them, and awaited the speedy approach of the enemy.

Four signatures closed in on Rin, while one lagged behind. _Found you_, Urudu chuckled, and began forming some seals as he felt the one lagging behind come up to the surface a couple meters northeast of him. He then dashed toward the signature, shouting "Water Release: Water Prison Technique!" This would be an easy capture so long as his team dealt with the clones. Holding one hand out where the signature was about to burst, he then formed a half seal and tapped a storage seal on his arm. Water came gushing out and and began to form a sphere. The dirt underneath began to break. "Gotcha!" Urudu shouted.

A blur sped up from the ground, much quicker than he had seen Kakashi move, going so fast that it broke through the water shell before it had a chance to rightfully form a sphere. "You owe me for this one, Kakashi!" a voice other than Kakashi's shouted. Urudu craned his neck up to see- and something acidic splashed into his eyes.

"Gah!" he grunted, trying to rub it out. The smell reminded him of - pee? His nose crinkled in disgust.

"Boss, you okay?" One of his team members quickly asked, as two others began forming seals against this new enemy. The enemy dashed towards the group, stopping in frront of the one that had spoken. It grinned, showing off its canines. His tail wagged once, though, before saying, "Pakkun: Out." He disappeared in smoke, using some of his chakra to make more smoke than necessary. A smoky covering engulfed the group, as their shock at a _dog_ attacking them finally ran its course. It was too late, though. Three more dogs erupted from the ground, clawing and biting the blinded Kiri ninja as the last chakra signature, Kakashi, erupted from right in front of Rin. One arm wrapped around her waist, and he leaped away into the trees, trying to get away before his strength failed him.

"Rin, are you okay?" He asked, trying to not let the quivering of his voice out. Rin didn't respond verbally, but she pushed away from Kakashi and began jumping from branch to branch on her own. Glancing at her, Kakashi could see tears coming down her face. It tore at his heart to know she'd been through so much; deciding not to push her, he let her be.

However, his short sense of triumph escaped him as he heard something approach behind them. Glancing back, he shouted, "Get down!" They both dropped to the ground as a water dragon passed overhead, a watery roar escaping it. Kakashi gritted his teeth and sped through seals he would come to know well. Focusing his sharingan on the man that approached, he dropped his right hand down below him. "Chidori," he spat, pouring most of what remained of his chakra into this. Meanwhile, Rin ran forward, and Kakashi assumed she was preparing to attack. Once he concentrated his lightning chakra into his technique, Kakashi pumped chakra into his legs to copy the speed Gai could go at, and sped forward. Urudu, the one who'd managed to follow them with his sensor abilities, widened his eyes - acrobat or not, he couldn't dodge this at the speed Kakashi was coming at him with.

Kakashi swept his hand forward, his sharingan tracking Urudu's movements and adjusting his aim accordingly; he wanted this to be a one-hit-kill.

But when the blood splattered onto his face, his sharingan made sure the image of his bloody arm running through Rin's chest was forever imprinted in his mind. It had gone through and run through Urudu as well, so when Kakashi hurriedly removed his arm (with a _splat_ that made him flinch), the Kiri nin fell to the ground. Kakashi encircled his left, unbloodied arm around Rin and lowered her to the ground. "Rin, tell me what to do," Kakashi pleaded, because he didn't know how to treat anything this bad. There wasn't a _why_ in his words; there was only _how do I fix this?_ Rin gave him a smile, even as blood began seeping out of her mouth.

"Kakashi-kun..." Her lung was punctured, filling with blood. "It's... okay... I did this... because I needed to die. They put the Sanbi in me to bring.. me to Konoha and release it... and made a terrible Genjutsu... making me only want to do what was best... for Kiri... " She chuckled, some blood mist coming out. "But that also meant... I could defend a Kiri ninja... and die while doing so... and make sure the Sanbi couldn't... destroy Konoha." Kakashi grabbed her hand, his whole body quivering.

"We... We could've found a way, Rin..." He sobbed.

"No, K-Kaka..shi.. We couldn't.." Rin squeezed his hand. "But... you know what... I always wanted to see?" She let go of Kakashi's hand and slowly slid her hand onto his masked cheek, her thumb caressing his face. She slowly curled her fingers under the mask, before pulling it down. She then closed her eyes, satisfied. "Just like I thought..."

Her hand dropped down onto the ground. "Rin, don't go, please!" Kakashi begged her, unable to keep his rationality in check. "Stay, for Obito... for me."

She coughed once more. "You know, Kakashi... I'll always be there... just... make Minato-sensei proud... for the both of us." She coughed once more, and then coughed no more.

Kakashi's three tomoe in his sharingan swirled together as his grief and sorrow reached its peak, forming the Mangekyou Sharingan for a moment before he collapsed from shock and fatigue.

His wasn't the only Sharingan to change, as Obito watched from the trees, his hands clenching. Tears ran down his face, and Obito turned away, unable to watch any longer. The one he had loved, even without seeing her for all this time, had died by the hand of his best friend. This world was unfair; his grief and anger began to consume him, and he realized that Madara was right. This world was too chaotic, too out of control. The only way to change it was to control it yourself, and make it whatever you wanted it to be.

And he would.

Yellow eyes with slitted pupils watched both of the Sharingan users, and a grin stretched across his face. _So that is how one activates it, _the man thought to himself; he had, rightfully, thought that the Uchiha records were inaccurate.

And evil spread in the world.

* * *

Wolf wiped a tear away at the marker, wallowing in the memories. He felt a presence step next to him. "What do you want, Gai?" Wolf bit out.

Gai, unusually solemn, glanced at Wolf. "Am I wrong to pay my respects to an honourable comrade that died protecting Konoha?" Gai responded, and Wolf sighed.

"Sorry, Gai," he said, and Gai knelt on his knees to the stone with all the names of the deceased heroes of Konoha, laying a bouquet of hydrangea flowers onto it. Wolf gulped at the sight, and a little smile escaped him. Gai flashed him a small smile uncharacteristic of the man, and Wolf was about to open his mouth when -

"Don't mention it," the Green Beast of Konoha said, making his way back to the village. Wolf looked back at the stone, feeling a little better.

Those were Rin's favorite flowers.

Gai glanced back at Wolf. He hoped the man was getting better; he had been with Asuma as they had argued to the Sandaime that the ANBU wasn't suited for Wolf, and had only been making him cope worse over the years. This whole 'mission' with Naruto wasn't just a mission; it was an attempt to bring Wolf back to life. And if it failed, it gave the Hokage an excuse to pull Wolf from the ANBU. But that was the worst case scenario, because that would break little Naruto's heart if Wolf left. _Just quit_, Gai thought to himself. _Quit and raise little Naru__to like you have been._

After a moment, Wolf departed, quickly making his way back to the apartment. _I can do this,_ he told himself. _My psyche assessment will go fine, and I will complete this mission to __protect The Boy and make him self-sufficient._ He was feeling better than he had been about this whole thing in a while.

* * *

Wolf walked in to see The Boy on the floor. He was in the kitchen, and looked teary-eyed as he tried to pick up all the wet ramen noodles on the floor. His right hand was red from spilling hot water onto it, and he was sniffling. Wolf closed the door, and The Boy looked up at him with wide eyes. "M'sorry! S'not my fault! It was hot'n it - it - it fell!" He claimed, not wanting Wolf to see how he had messed up.

Wolf patiently walked over to The Boy. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said, lifting The Boy onto the counter. He started running some cold water and wet paper towels with it, wiping way ramen juice and whatnot from The Boy. It also felt a lot better to his burnt (but quickly healing) hand than warm water would have felt.

Once things had been cleaned up and The Boy was munching on some macaroni and cheese, Wolf started heading back to the kitchen to prepare himself some food as well. "Wolf?" The Boy piped up.

"Yes?" he responded, turning around.

"Are..." The Boy hesitated, not sure. "Are you my daddy?"

For the first time in months, Wolf saw him as Naruto, the son of his sensei, his _sensei_, not him, and his sensei wasn't here anymore, his son was all alone with a failure of a man raising him, and the barriers began breaking. He was not Naruto's daddy. His hand shook as he breathed in quick, images burned into his mind from the Sharingan flashing past, and before he began hyperventilating, he Shunshin'd out of there.

He was Kakashi, and that was Naruto, his sensei's son. The sensei he had failed, and the son he had also failed. He could not live like that.

* * *

The next day, Hiruzen looked up at Kakashi with sad, tired eyes. "I am not going to be the one to tell him goodbye for you," he said firmly.

"But-"

"**NO!"** The old Hokage shouted, letting the anger he was storing show. "_You_ must tell him goodbye, whether as Wolf or Kakashi. But _you_ need to tell him why he suddenly will be all alone again." Hiruzen's voice was commanding and firm, the voice of a Hokage who had done and seen too much.

Kakashi bowed his head, knowing not to fight this one. "As you wish, Sandaime-sama," he said. He made his way out the door. As it closed behind him, Hiruzen swiveled to face the picture of Minato on the wall. "I'm..." Minato's son would be all alone again. "I'm sorry, Minato. I've failed." The old man looked down at the desk, not sure what to do now. Kakashi watching over Naruto was only a viable mission for an ANBU member to do because he had played it off as an evaluation of Kakashi's mental state. He couldn't do that with another ANBU member. And he couldn't let anyone actually known to the public do it, because he didn't want to make anyone else a pariah of the Leaf by association with Naruto.

* * *

Naruto cried for two days and two nights. But after that, when Hiruzen came to visit Naruto, the boy handed the Hokage a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Hiruzen asked, giving the boy a grandfatherly smile.

"S'my first word I ever wrote, just today," Naruto proclaimed, grinning. Hiruzen looked at it, and his smile widened. It was legible: The word _friend_. "Can ya do somethin' for me?" Naruto then asked.

"What is it?" The Sandaime questioned, curious.

"Can you.. Can you give that to Wolf?" Naruto looked up at the Sandaime with cheery eyes, no sign of malice or anger or even sadness at the thought of Wolf. "I get why he had'ta go, he said I made'm think too much of his dead sensei, and that made'm sad. But I wanted him to know... he was, and _is_, my friend."

Hiruzen's hand holding the paper trembled as he nodded. "I can do that, Naruto. I'll make sure it gets to him."

"Promise?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Promise. A Hokage doesn't go back on his word."

After a few more minutes of Hiruzen explaining to Naruto how he'd have to get his groceries himself and whatnot now (and Hiruzen assured him he'd accompany him on his first few trips), he got up to leave. Five year old Naruto hugged the Sarutobi's leg, wanting him to stay in his apartment forever. "I've got to go, little Naruto."

"But you're the nicest person in the world," Naruto said, gazing at his lone source of kindness.

"Well," he said, smiling, "I'm the Hokage. It's my job."

Naruto stepped back and proclaimed, bright-eyed: "Then I'll be a kind, amazin' Hokage one day, too. Believe it!"

"I believe it," Hiruzen said.

* * *

**Any comments on writing style, any errors, etc. are appreciated! Also, I think I'll switch completely to English for the jutsu and whatnot (except for things like Amaterasu, etc. where I know the Japanese version a lot better). **

**'Til next time,**

**Adamrpg**


	5. Adjusting

**Adamrpg here. I should have a bit of time during the Winter Break here, so this chapter and one more before winter break ends is kind of what I'm expecting. At the very least, this chapter.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Shisui would have had a larger role, and the dead Uchiha clan would have made an appearance to Sasuke.**

* * *

Every time he took Naruto out to get groceries, he made sure to get a lot - that way, this trip wouldn't have to happen often. It had been three months, and this was the fourth (and last) time he was taking Naruto out to get the groceries before Naruto would have to get them himself. Hiruzen looked down at little Naruto, whom was learning to read relatively quickly after his sputtering start. He had one hand in Hiruzen's, and another was holding a newspaper, his little eyes peering down with great concentration to try and read it.

It wasn't just to read; it was another way to escape from the stares of the adults around them, some disgusted at the Hokage for allowing the child to live; others holding their gaze in fear of the Hokage; and others just mildly interested, but too afraid to approach due to their friends or family being afraid of the boy. To Naruto, it all looked the same: Scary. Anyone that Hiruzen didn't personally entrust with Naruto, the boy just assumed it was bad. Hiruzen sighed; maybe being inside with Kakashi in Wolf-form hadn't been a good idea after all... not only had Naruto not gone out to interact with the public, but he couldn't tell the bad stares from the neutral stares from the sympathetic ones (mostly from the older ninja). It reminded him of the ROOT children. Speaking of...

"Jiji!" Naruto looked up suddenly, after staring at a particular advertisement for a few minutes as they walked.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" He asked, curious at the excitement. Naruto was practically vibrating.

"This... thing, are-oh-oh-tee, says its a ninja thing for orphans and other kids who don't wanna go to the Academy." Naruto pointed at the page,the advertisement specifically made simple so that orphans with little reading ability could still get something from it. It was ROOT alright; modified after Danzo had been taken off the program. Jiraiya was now the main director of the program, so he stopped in every few months (as opposed to every couple of years, which was the trend before; he hoped it would convince Jiraiya to spend time with Naruto). Danzo had a good heart when he was making ROOT; but it needed reforming, and the children needed to heal and feel again. There were now, instead of older ROOT operatives and ex-ANBU as the senseis, Yamanakas and other ninja who were especially vibrant and lively. His best choice so far... he closed his eyes and smiled. Maito Gai had broken through to the kids, his ridiculous antics either inspiring them or breaking their masks and pulling out their laughter. The Yamanakas' gentle approach was a good supplement, but Gai was excellent with the kids, even when dealing with dozens of them, whereas the Yamanakas could only focus on one or two children at a time. Plus, his knowledge of the physiques of children and how to treat their bodies exceeded even many medic-ninjas' knowledge. This helped immensely in treating the ones who had been 'trained' by starvation and other damaging techniques. Oh, he thanked Gai every time he saw the man. He'd simply smile his smile and give him a thumbs up.

He was pulled back to reality by Naruto tugging on his hand. "Did ya hear me, Jiji?"

The old man's lips quirked. While the ROOT program was now also inviting new children who weren't fit for the academy or needed what ROOT had to offer (shelter, food, and guaranteed employment after), it still was not a normal childhood experience. The program still kept to its mission; dedicating most of its time to training and learning, and little for play. The children were treated civilly, but there were high expectations.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, I did. I'm not that old yet," he drew a giggle from Naruto, "but I think this isn't right for you. That word you didn't know, ROOT, is the name of that program. The children there don't have time to play or have an innocent childhood; something you may find in the Academy." They stopped outside the store, and the old man knelt down to Naruto. "Why do you not want to go to the Academy, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto let his eyes drop down to the ground. "When you walked me to there, there were all the kids, 'n they all had parents. And they looked at me bad, mean..." Naruto brought his eyes back up to see the old man's. "I don't wanna be all alone there..." The only one without parents. And more than that, Hiruzen knew that the children may copy their parents at first, treating Naruto wrong and not seeing him for him. But he had to believe that the children would see past that once they spent actual time with Naruto. He had to believe it, believe that innocent, young children wouldn't all be bad.

The Hokage squeezed Naruto's hand. "You won't be all alone there. Believe it," he echoed Naruto those months ago. Naruto's lips quirked, remembering. _Believe it_.

"Promise?" Naruto asked.

He put his faith where his words were. "I promise, Naruto-kun."

* * *

The Uchiha children were usually brighter children at younger ages than normal children. It could have been something genetic with the Sharingan, some sort of innate ability to remember things that went along with the wiring for the Sharingan latent somewhere in their heads, or maybe it could have been the environment they were raised in, where the children had high expectations put on them from an early age. Itachi Uchiha had seemed to have both from an early age, graduating from the Academy only six months after the Kyuubi attack. Now ten years old, he quietly sat at the dinner table with his parents and younger brother, after a day of modest celebration his mother had organized. This was the day he had officially become a Chuunin.

Sasuke had blabbered the whole day to all his cousins and Uchiha friends about how amazing his brother was. When Shisui, fourteen and also a prodigy (having become Chuunin at age twelve) had heard, he'd laughed. "He's already matched my skill level for a few months now," Shisui had mentioned, "It just took a little while for his rank to catch up." Shunshin no Shisui, master of the Shunshin no Jutsu - some liked to joke that he was the second coming of the Yellow Flash. "I'm not quite there yet," he'd usually say, a modest smile on his lips.

Fugaku looked at his eldest son with a small smile on his face - a rare sight. Itachi Uchiha... Even if Fugaku died bringing back the Uchiha glory, he knew Itachi was capable enough to carry the clan on his shoulders. "Now that you're a Chuunin, Itachi," he spoke, getting the attention of everyone at the table, "I consider you now an adult. As such, we can begin preparing you for the Clan Head's duties, as well as begin your true Uchiha training."

Mikoto looked a little concerned. "He's still got a way to go though, Fugaku. You only began your Clan Head preparation when you were seventeen." He shot her a look; _Oh_, she realized, her heart dropping a little. She repressed the wave of sadness threatening to sweep her; it seemed like Fugaku was truly intent on preparing the clan for... _that_.

Fugaku then continued, his smile no longer there. "You are more talented than me, son; starting early will make you all the stronger in the long run."

Sasuke, not yet old enough to know when to keep quiet, piped up. "Does that mean Itachi will be too busy to pla- I mean, train with me?"

Fugaku gruffly answered. "Yes, Sasuke, now be quiet, this is an important moment for your brother," he said, dismissing him. Sasuke, used to the treatment but still feeling the sting, clamped his mouth shut. "Now-"

"That isn't why I'll be busy, Sasuke," Itachi finally spoke, before looking at his father. "I'll be busy because I will be undergoing the ANBU recruitment and training process." His voice was firm, unwavering. It was not angry, or bitter, or scared of his father; it was the voice of a man who knew he was in charge of his own life.

His father's black eyes bled into the red of the Sharingan, adding to his imposing demeanor. "I am your father, Itachi," he ground out, anger swelling inside of him at the apparent act of rebellion. Maybe Mikoto was right, it was too early, Itachi was just starting the teenage rebellious streak, maybe the clan could wai - no. The clan couldn't wait. They had to prepare to act before Konoha sucked any more prestige and power out of them. And so he continued. "You _will_ undergo the Clan Head preparations."

Itachi looked sympathetic, not angry. "I'm sorry, father. It must be hard for you to have me say this, but this is what I want to do right now. I will get stronger through this, and will master my emotions through my ANBU training, preparing me to lead the clan as well. And when I am not on duty, I can undergo your training and preparations."

Itachi thought he could do it all; live the ANBU life, see what made Konoha work, _and_ do his duty for his clan, pleasing his father; but all Fugaku saw was an excuse. His eyes narrowed, his mouth opened, and the fighting lasted into the night. Itachi left after awhile, seeking Shisui for training that lasted well into the night.

And the next morning, Mikoto found it was hard to draw any more tears when she looked at her bruises. This wasn't the same man she had known before the Kyuubi attack, before everything had gone to hell for the Uchiha clan. Always whispering, they were, about Uchiha Madara and his ability to control the Kyuubi with his Sharingan. About how the Uchiha could've caused the attack, or stopped it without costing the Yondaime his life; but they were too weak, or too cowardly, or too evil to try. Fugaku only saw the bad in the Sandaime, Mikoto knew; Fugaku only saw the Sandaime's reduction of the Uchiha's role in the police force, and all the other little policy changes that made the Uchiha presence in how the village is run smaller. He never saw how the Sandaime wanted to reduce the slander on the Uchiha name, how keeping them separate would reduce tension in the village. It didn't always work, but Mikoto could see it.

And in the future, Itachi would see it too.

* * *

Meanwhile, a young Hyuuga heiress wept over the loss of her mother. Hiashi's heart grew colder, harder, and would not offer Hinata comfort, secluding himself. Branch members took care of the baby, newborn Hanabi; and when Hinata tried going to her cousin Neji, he pushed her away, too, with cold eyes and colder words. _It's only fate_, he had said. Hinata found no comfort in the Hyuugas, and wept to sleep in a cold, lonely bed.

Neji sat on his bedside, smiling a little. _It seems fate also wants to strike at the Main Branch,_ he thought. He did not let others in on the fact that he was happy the Main Branch had lost another member; it would make his Branch less inclined to help him in his training if they knew what was going on inside him. Neji dusted off the lone picture he had of his father. "I may be fated to always be a servant to the Main Branch, father; but the Main Branch _will_ suffer for what they made you do." When he saw Hinata, or even Hanabi, that was what he saw; the Main Branch, not a sensitive little girl and a newborn child.

He rested easy that night.

* * *

A pale figure finished his string of seals, slamming his palms into the ground. A second later, a coffin eerily, slowly began rising out of the murky ground. When it opened, and the being inside stepped out, the figure's lips stretched into a smile. _It is done_. He knew he needed to improve it, but it seemed to be good enough for now. He slammed a kunai marked with a control-amplifying seal into the neck of the being, who then stepped forward. With a simple thought, the being bowed low to the ground, before standing straight once more, in his blue battle suit.

The original creator of the Impure Resurrection Technique stood before him, his skin pasty and his eyes black. _Oh, what I can do with this..._

* * *

A month later, Naruto found he needed to do grocery shopping. This time, he would be alone. His tiny hands clung onto a small list he had. He didn't know how to write the names of a lot of things, but the Hokage had made sure he knew the fundamentals. Toilet paper, some food items, drinks, things like that. He bit his lip in anxiety, but he reminded himself: How could he be Hokage if he couldn't do some shopping? Bolstered by this and his good memories of shopping with the Sandaime, little Naruto grabbed his rucksack and some bills from the wad of money the village offered to displaced orphans every month. The old man had told him not to take all of it in case he dropped it, which made sense.

Naruto undid the three locks on his door, and warily opened it to the sunlight outside. He needed to do this; he'd run out of the last of his food and hadn't thought to buy more _before_ he got hungry. So this had to be done today, he told himself. Or else there would be no food. He stuffed the money in one of the pockets in his green shorts, shouldered his rucksack, and began walking.

Soon after, he was running; from the stares, the glares, trying to get to the store as soon as he could as fast as possible. He kicked up some dust behind him and winced as his pack dug into his back with each step. When he reached the market the Sandaime had last taken him to, he stopped and stood in front of the door. One may have thought it strange that he wasn't breathing very hard after running for a couple minutes.

His hand gripped the handle and, gulping down his hesitation, pulled it open.

* * *

The rain was pouring down hard later that night. He looked down at the wet ground beneath him, not really paying attention to where he was going. _Squelch._ Another step. _Squelch._

Though there were laws preventing discrimination in shops, it wasn't hard for shop owners to kick him out for "causing public disturbances" in their stores. After all, what else could you call a sudden migration of the civilians in the store to the exit? Where whispers, or even outright shouts slandering him were predominant? What shopkeeper wanted to lose their reputation by allowing the resident "demon child" to buy their goods? Even the good ones, the ones who didn't hate him, couldn't stand to see their regular customers just up and... _leave_.

But little five-and-a-half year old Naruto didn't understand any of this. All he knew was that he had to keep going, because _dang it_, he _needed_ to shop, what Hokage couldn't even _shop_? And he needed to eat, too. The hunger gnawed at his stomach, ravenous after a whole day without food. He shivered, too - though his body was more resistant to the cold than other people, being in shorts and a t-shirt while rain pounded down for over an hour, being _soaked_ for over an hour was too much. He was freezing.

Hungry, cold, and... alone. The Sandaime wasn't with him this time, and though his explanation before (something about him being busy and Naruto needing to learn how to do this himself) had made sense then, right now he just wanted his Jiji.

He wanted his Jiji so bad. His feet stopped squelching as he stopped walking, and instead dropped his pack onto the sidewalk. He sat down and buried his face in his hands as the sobs began. He couldn't help it; this quiet, this loneliness, his hunger and cold, the fact that he couldn't really feel his hands anymore... It was all just too much.

Light spilled onto him from behind as a curtain was pushed to the side, and a man with hints of gray hair stood by it. Naruto turned to see what was causing the light. A smile was there waiting for him; Naruto could understand smiles.

"Come in, you must be freezing," the man said, "And I can make you a bowl of ramen to warm you up." At Naruto's hesitation, he pushed the curtain open farther, unveiling a little food shop with only about ten seats in it. "Come on in," he repeated warmly.

Suddenly, the tears running down his face weren't bad tears, but good.

* * *

Naruto had not one, not two, but three bowls of ramen, downed almost as quickly as a hungry Akimichi. Teuchi was in the back of the store now, letting Naruto get warm in his store before he had to face the rain again. He washed a couple dishes.

"Dad," Twelve year-old Ayame said behind him. Her voice was angry. "Why are you letting _him_ in here? All my friends' parents say to stay away from him!"

Teuchi sighed, having expected this. "He's just a boy, tired, cold, and hungry. I don't care what the other parents say; if I see a hungry child, I want that kid fed. Now wait here while I check up on him." Ayame gritted her teeth as Teuchi went to the front again.

Naruto was just pulling the money he had from his pocket. The crumpled bills had disintegrated a little due to being, well, soaked. "Here," Naruto said to Teuchi, smiling for the first time that day. He plopped the wad on the counter and Teuchi picked it up, not sure if the bills would even be salvageable as money anymore. Nonetheless, he smiled, seeing the brightness in Naruto's eyes. "f'it's not enough, I can go get more at my apartment and come back," the boy said, uncaring of the fact he'd have to make two more journeys in the cold rain if he did that.

Teuchi shook his head gently. Looking a little more closely, the money wasn't salvageable anymore. "It's enough. Thank you. Are you warm now? I can turn up the heat." Naruto bit his lip at the words, kinder than any he'd heard in the last month. Tears threatened to spill again.

"Arigato! (Thank you!)" Naruto shouted, lowering his head to the counter. It was coming out. "Arigato! Arigato!" He sniffled, and resumed speaking with his head lowered. "No one else let me in their shop, and I've never tasted better ramen, and you're the best ramen chef in the world, and..." It wasn't just the ramen that made him the best. He had made sure to make Naruto comfortable... That was too meaningful to him for words to express.

The man's heart danced at the praise, at how this child, _not_ a demon, had already been through all this today and still had time to thank him. "You mustn't continue, Naruto," Teuchi started, snapping Naruto out of it, "Or else my head might just get so big it explodes!" This wriggled a laugh out of Naruto, and the ramen chef smiled again. "I'm not all that; I'm just Teuchi Ichiraku, proud owner of the Ichiraku Ramen shop. Happy to serve you, little guy."

That did it. Naruto smiled a beautiful smile that seemed to stretch the whole of Konoha, and made a proclamation. "I'm not just a little guy," he started, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He jabbed a thumb at himself. "Future Hokage! And I'll visit as Hokage so much that you'll become rich!"

Teuchi chuckled, and Ayame stood off to the side, staring at Naruto, thinking that maybe this boy wasn't that bad.

When Naruto left and moved the curtain aside, he found that the rain had stopped drizzling down. He looked up to the sky, where there were now no storm clouds blocking the sun, and now just the sunset's pretty colors, and smiled.

With his pack full of take-home ramen he could eat later, and some memories of his and Teuchi's conversation, Naruto felt he'd be alright.

* * *

**AN: Glad to have finished this one. What do you guys think of how I'm writing it? Any good or bad? Did I make any typos?**

**Thanks for reading!  
**


	6. Looking Up

**AN: Thanks, folks, for the reviews. They make me smile and persevere. :) **

** Julchen (Guest reviewer): I will keep updating, and I'm happy to make both extremes of those feelings pop up in you.**

**Note: As mentioned before, Killer Bee is a stage name, and if you want his real name, I'm just going to give you "B". Also, in this story, he _is_ A's blood-brother, though still a lot younger than A.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or influence Kishimoto in any way. If I did, why Orochimaru was the way he was would have been more explored.**

* * *

The last stop on Killer Bee's international rap tour was in Sunagakure, the land hidden in the desert. Though his crew and bodyguards complained about the trip, the hot desert, and how sand got everywhere, Bee was focused. He concentrated on his raps, helped out in setting up camp when he could, and tried to lighten everyone's spirits with some purposefully bad raps.

But now that they were on stage in Suna, their demeanors had changed. The ninja bodyguards from Kumo stood watch, but were relaxed and enjoying the effect Killer Bee had on the crowd. The rest of the crew were managing the lights, speakers, and/or providing Bee's back-up music.

The people gathered around for blocks, and interspersed were speakers to project Bee's vocals. This was something both ninja and civilians had gathered to enjoy, bridging the divide between them for a rare moment. The people chattered excitedly, since Bee's growing fame was something unprecedented in this world - usually, the most well known people were the famous and reputed ninja, usually feared by many, such as Namikaze Minato, the Sannin, the Third Kazekage, Hanzo of the Salamander, and others like them. Never before had a civilian - much less someone not rich like Gato, or a non-noble - become this well-known.

The last intermission of his concert came to a close, and the people - for the most part - quieted down. Killer Bee grabbed the microphone and softly spoke. "It's been a great time with you folks here in Suna, and I'm gunna be sad to be going soon-a." He got a few laughs at the forced rhyme, and chuckled, seeming to gain more spirit at the acknowledgement.

Standing on a nearby roof was a little boy with red hair, who'd been convinced to come out and watch at least the last part of the concert by his uncle Yashamaru. He'd been hesitant to, after seeing all the people gathered, but being on the roof was better.

Teenaged girls in the crowd whispered to each other. "Don't you just love his style?" "Yeah, he looks _so_ good in those sunglasses!" "No, I mean his rapping. He usually doesn't even need to rhyme and it just hits you right here," the girl exclaimed, pointing to her heart. "Well, yeah, he's pretty passionate; I wonder what it means about what he's like in bed..." The other girl sighed in frustration and turned back to Bee as he continued talking.

"You know," Bee started, "I never expected to be this popular. When I started rapping over in Kumo, no one was impressed, and I've got to say, they were right to not be! I was a bad rapper, always trying to pull off a rhyme and impress people. But all it did was push people away. Even my big brother A didn't want to be around me; it'd hurt to be seen with me, a bad rapper and someone who failed in Kumo's ninja training program. So I ended up not having any friends; I was always the "uncool" one, the one kids never wanted to be around. I couldn't play games with them, and growing up it was more of the same thing."

The red-haired boy listened more intently, the words resonating in his own heart. Yashamaru stood beside him, a smile slowly forming. The Kazekage thought Gaara was a lost cause, and soon was going to start testing Gaara's mental fortitude to see if he had any hope of being a good Jinchuuriki. He himself was worried, not sure what sorts of tests Gaara was going to go through. But he had to push on, and moments like these should help... At least, Yashamaru hoped that they would.

"After a while, I was sent to an island to catalogue all the animals there with a few ninja bodyguards - since a lot of them were very dangerous animals - and that way, I would be out of A's way. It seemed like every day I found a new animal... I had no idea how long it would take. I had no idea how long Kumo wanted me away from them. But there, I found peace by befriending the animals, exploring the beautiful landscapes, and the extended lack of other people around me had a weird effect. I was _inspired_. The animal kingdom is so much different from how we, as humans, live. They had a balance, whereas we've always strived for more, driven by greed, selfishness, and an inability to understand each other. Though they all were different, the animals didn't have wars, and they understood each other. I think we can do that too." He smiled, and the crowd exploded with tears and shouts and promises to do better.

_If only it was that easy_, he thought to himself. _It'll take more than this to change things._ "Enough about me," he said, eliciting the crowd to steadily drop its noise level, "let's get this show on the road!" He exclaimed, and cheers swept throughout the crowd, from ninja and civilians alike.

The little red-haired boy was _smiling_.

* * *

After Killer Bee performed his last rap, talking about trying to find acceptance and how people made that hard, Yashamaru turned to Gaara. The boy had on an expression Yashamaru had never seen before; it was like looking into a mirror and finally seeing yourself, instead of a stranger with your face.

"Gaara," he said as a line started to form to get Bee's autograph, "Do you want to get his autograph?"

Gaara's joy seemed to recede at that, and he looked down at the line of people - kids and adults alike who ran away and feared him. "I..." He wasn't sure what to say. He did, but he was hesitant. Would Bee run away, too? His little heart squeezed painfully at the thought.

"You just heard his words," Yashamaru said, seeming to read Gaara's mind - he _had_ been Gaara's main caretaker all his life. "Does he seem like the kind of guy that would go back on his word?"

Slowly, Gaara shook his head. At that, Yashamaru let out a small smile. "Alright," he said, turning to get down from the roof and get in line. "Let's go."

* * *

Seeing Gaara, the crowds of people made a divide, backing away from him in fear and prejudice. Even when they reached the line, seeming die-hard Bee fans - including two particular teenage girls - started to step out of the line in order to not have to be near Gaara. The boy's head steadily drooped down as every single person in line let them through.

"Hey, it's just because the Kazekage's kids get preference," Yashamaru encouraged. "First in line privileges."

"You know it's not," Gaara mumbled bitterly. Another few dozen people stepped out of line, and suddenly Gaara was at the front of the line. The whispers at his back were like spears digging their way into his spine, paralyzing him. He couldn't look up, choosing only to stare at the ground and the table's legs in front of him. He didn't want to se-

"Sup, little guy?" Gaara's head snapped up, the words breaking his thoughts. He saw a big, brown fist in front of his face and his eyes widened. He stepped back quickly - too quickly, he realized, as his shoe got caught on a crack and he tripped back.

A bed of sand cushioned and caught him, restoring him to full standing position. He looked at the fist again, but now that he was a step back, he could see the smiling face of Killer Bee behind it. "You okay? This is just a fist bump - you ever do one before?"

Gaara shook his his slowly, wary. Bee wasn't running away, but he wasn't sure if the man was about to attack him or not.

"Well, all you gotta do is - " he brought his fist back, made another fist with his left hand, and softly bumped the two together. " - that, except your fist goes to mine." Bee brought his fist back forward, and Gaara hesitantly stepped forward again. He raised his right hand and formed his little six-year-old fist, holding it up near Bee's. "Okay, little dude - now just bump it!"

Gaara quickly gave Bee's fist a little tap with his fist and speedily withdrew his hand, his eyes wide. He hadn't touched anyone except maybe Yashamaru some when he was little and here was this guy, willing to bump fists with him, not trying to hurt him or reject him. And it was weird feeling someone else again. Bee's fist, for the brief moment he'd touched it, had felt smooth and warm.

"And that's a fist bump," the man said, smiling. "Some say that people can understand each other when their fists clash - well, this is sort of a loophole to that." He grinned, and jabbed a thumb at his chest. "Name's Killer Bee, and yep, that is me!"

Gaara spit out a laugh at the bad rhyme. Bee's grin widened at that. "So who're you, little dude?"

Yashamaru, knowing Gaara's status, began to bow and introduce Gaara for him. "This is the Kaz-"

"I'm Sabaku Gaara," Gaara willingly said, emulating Bee's cheerfulness and pointing to himself with his thumb. Bee was now his official favorite coolest person, Gaara decided.

"Nice to meet'cha, Gaara. You're a cool little dude. In fact..." Bee reached under the desk and pulled out a box. Setting it on the table, he pointed to it and excitedly began talking. "This thing right here, Gaara, is somethin' new that we've made. It's called a _CD player_, and right now only the folks in Kumo know how to make it. It is one of a kind - you wanna know what it does?"

"Yes!" Gaara said, Bee's own excitement bleeding into Gaara and eliminating his worry about the crowd behind him. It helped that even the crowd was silent now, wondering what Bee was up to.

Bee reached under the desk again. "Now, I wasn't going to reveal this 'til after my tour was over, but this _CD Player_ can help ya listen to my music even when I'm not here. The music is on this CD, and... " He pulled out a pen and quickly signed the CD, ending his name with a flourish, "I want you to have both of these, little guy. That way you can jam to my music whenever you want!" He spoke loudly enough for the people closest to them in the crowd to hear as well. Whispers went through the crowd, and after a few days, everyone in the village would know about this event.

Gaara hesitantly took the CD and immediately clutched it to his chest, smiling widely. Yashamaru picked up the CD player and smiled at Bee, who flashed them both a thumbs up.

* * *

A Suna ninja entered the Kazekage's office and gave him a large bow. "Report," the Kazekage grumbled out.

"Yes, sir." The ninja adjusted his glasses. "The entity known as 'Killer Bee' does exhibit a little more strength, chakra, and speed than the average civilian. However, comparing these attributes to Suna civilians who also were in our ninja training program but dropped out or failed, it was found that Bee's abilities are well within the range of a Genin-in-training. His chakra levels match this hypothesis; plus, ninja who can suppress their chakra levels usually have chakra that doesn't vary throughout the day. Civilians can't control their chakra levels, and so they spike and drop doing various things throughout the day. Bee is nothing more than a civilian who tried to be a ninja and failed, sir. Upon leaving Suna, Bee even sprained his ankle when he tried to carry some equipment. Needless to say, he is not a professional."

The Kazekage nodded. _Just because you have the same blood as A doesn't_ _mean you're as strong, I suppose,_ the Kazekage thought. He dismissed the ninja who had reported in and looked out the window, one less worry in his mind. Knowing that Suna's economy had been slowly but surely dropping, he turned back to the form on his desk. _Request for another tour in Suna_, one line wrote. Knowing that Bee wasn't a ninja had calmed him on this matter, and he signed his name to approve the request. Should Bee become famous enough, this might provide a boost to Suna next time Bee came, scheduled for almost two years from now.

* * *

Gaara walked home with Yashamaru, still clutching the CD and a smile on his face. Yashamaru couldn't stop feeling good for Gaara; maybe this was what the boy needed. Plus, Bee just seemed like a great guy. Yashamaru was glad to have met him.

Three boys, around 7-8 years old, ran up to Yashamaru and Gaara and ahead of them, stopping in front of them. Looking at Gaara, the one in front hesitantly stepped forward. "Um... Gaara-sama.." He said, addressing the boy as the Kazekage's child instead of "freak" or "demon". He eyed the CD player in Yashamaru's hands. "Killer Bee-san is a cool guy, and he said you're a cool guy, so.. " The boy kicked his feet into the ground, regretting how he had also been part of ostracizing Gaara. "Do you maybe... wanna hang out with us sometime?" The other two boys nodded.

Gaara widened his eyes. This was... This was the best day of his life. This right here.

* * *

Bee sat in the caravan, on his way out of Suna. He held his face in his hands, hunched over in his seat. He sniffled. "I'm sorry," he said to himself. After a few minutes like this, he straightened back up, wiped his eyes, and pulled out a small scroll. He wrote a name on it, rolled it back up, and gave it to the hawk that had been patiently waiting next to him. "Sorry little birdy, this stuff's just a little dirty," he tried to chuckle at the bad rhyme, but it came closer to a sob. In Kumo, the Raikage could order a lot more than the ninja. Even civilians could be given missions, and this had been his.

The name contained in the scroll: _Sabaku Gaara_.

* * *

Back in Konoha, Naruto was laying on his stomach in the Hokage's office, shirtless. The aged Hokage was leaning over him, carefully painting seals onto Naruto's upper back. He told Naruto the story of the Yondaime inventing the Substitution Jutsu, and how it was essentially a modified version of the Hiraishin that all ninja in Konoha could use.

"I know that's got you excited, little Naruto, but you must sit still, or I can't get the seal on you properly and we'll have to start over." Naruto mumbled an affirmative and stopped vibrating in place from his excitement.

Soon, Naruto knew he was going to start the Academy. To do that, he needed the seal that would let him begin to practice the Substitution Jutsu once they taught it.

"Remember, you've got the enrollment test tomorrow to take. Have you studied the book I gave you?" Hiruzen asked.

"Mhm," Naruto mumbled, his face still sort of mushed into a pillow on the desk. Hiruzen stood straight once more and smiled. "I'm done. You can sit up now."

"Yatta!" Naruto said in excitement, quickly sitting up. "And the book was kinda good, but there's lotsa words I don't know in it."

"Why don't you ask Teuchi or Ayame to help you today?" Hiruzen suggested, Naruto blinked. He'd known the Ichirakus for about three months now, and it had been _amazing_ so far. They didn't care that everyone else didn't like him. Ayame had been kind of weird at first, but now she was pretty friendly to him. And Teuchi had been able to help him with his shopping situation; he'd file a mission report for Genin to do some grocery shopping and deliver it to Naruto's address, including the receipt - all Naruto needed to do was come over to Ichiraku's and pay Teuchi back.

Sure, it didn't fix the merchants' opinions of him, nor did it get Naruto out independently shopping, but he was still too young for that anyway, Hiruzen reflected. Teuchi was a smart man. He was glad someone like that was looking out for Naruto now; he himself couldn't do it all the time.

"That's a good idea, old man!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll go over there right now!"

He grabbed his shirt and began pulling it on before Hiruzen realized what Naruto was doing. The old man facepalmed. "Naruto... Wait."

"Hm?" Naruto turned around.

"You didn't let the ink dry," the Hokage muttered.

Naruto blinked.

And blinked again as he felt the ink on his back seeping into the shirt and smudging all the seals.

"I'VE GOTTA DO IT AGAIN?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Needless to say, Naruto didn't get help from the Ichirakus until later that day.

* * *

Mist covered a bridge on an island in the Land of Water. A boy sat against the railing, holding up a cup long after the passerby had stopped coming. Night was nearly afoot, and no one wanted to be out at night. This part of the island was heavy with criminals, who did most of their business at night, picking on those who risked to venture out alone.

Including this boy. An hour passed and he shivered, cold and hungry. He'd given up holding his cup, instead pulling his hands into his sleeves and hoping that passerby would offer him some change.

"How long have you been out here, boy?" a deep voice emerged from right in front of him. The boy shrieked in fright and held his hands up. Ice crystals formed in the air from his terror, but a muscled tan hand smacked them out of the air before the boy did anything accidentally with them. "Hmm... The Yuki clan. Thought to be extinct. But you've survived. Now answer me, boy; how long have you been without a home?"

The boy hesitantly looked up at the man, whose face was covered with bandages. The mist made it hard to see many details, but he could see a humongous sword strapped to his back. Gulping down his hesitance, he responded. "Three weeks."

The man 'hmm'd' at that. "And your name?"

The boy looked down at the floor. He remembered his father threatening to kill him, how he had been forced to kill him. He sniffled. He had no family now. "I have no name."

The large man knelt down to him and put a finger under the boy's chin, lifting his head up again. "If you come with me, join me, I will give you a new name. I will give you a purpose in life: be my tool to help retake Kirigakure and make it so that kekkei genkai are not feared anymore. You will serve me and me only; Momochi Zabuza. You will be my tool, like this sword, or this boy right here." Another figure stepped out from behind Zabuza, a boy maybe a couple years older than the Yuki clan orphan. "Do you accept?"

The boy thought about it. Loneliness... He had learned what it was like in these few weeks, and he... he _hated_ it. Looking up at the man, Momochi Zabuza, whose eyes seemed to burn with his will to change Kirigakure... He knew his answer.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama."

Though he couldn't see it under the bandages, Zabuza smiled. He stood back up to his full height, and the boy emulated him, forgetting the cup beside him. "Good. From now on, you are known only as... Haku." Zabuza gestured to the older boy beside him. "Until you are ready to be trained by me, Kimimaro here will be in charge of your training."

The two tools echoed each other naturally. "Yes, Zabuza-sama."

* * *

**AN: Yes, I just did that.**

**Naruto is more cheerful in this chapter because the last three months after knowing the Ichirakus (pretty much summarized in this chapter) has been one piece of good news after another. He hasn't had to deal with how mean the shopkeepers and other people are, other than the glares and whispers following him when he goes to see the Hokage or the Ichirakus. Things aren't getting to him since he's found a way to, once again, be less exposed to the villagers' cruelty (Genin missions to deliver his groceries and whatever else he needs). **

**So yeah, Bee is definitely a civilian in this story. So where's the 8-tails? Anyone got any guesses? Post your guess in a review. ;)**

**Also, how did I do? Did I mess up on spelling something, did I go too fast, too slow? **

**Finally, is there something in my story you folks want to see? My creativity is, in the end, limited, so I'm open to suggestions. I sort of know the main plot in this story, but it (and sub-plots) are open to change.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Looking Down

**Hey folks, welcome back. This time, you're going to see Naruto's first day at the Academy! There'll be this chapter, then another brief time skip, and then - okay, there's going to be a lot of small (a few months) time skips in the next few chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. However, if I did, I would've made an arc about the civil war in the Mist that ended all the fighting. Heck, I would've have Zabuza lead the revolution like he wanted!**

* * *

Naruto shouldered his backpack as he stood in line for the academy. He nervously looked around him, but no one seemed to be glaring or laughing at him. He relaxed a little bit; maybe Hokage-jiji was right, and the Academy would be good for him. He wondered if there was anyone his age; everyone looked taller. It made sense, since he was joining the Academy two years earlier than most people. Looking around again, he didn't see anyone he knew. _Then again, I don't know any other kids,_ he thought to himself, sighing. He'd once had this friend called Lee, but after he left the orphanage, Lee never wanted to see him again. He sniffled at the thought, but then clenched his fists and shook the thought away. He'd make new friends. They'd hang out every day at lunch, and then afterward he'd take them to Ichiraku Ramen, and then they'd play in a playground and laugh and have fun. His face softened and a smile grew as his imagining continued.

When he reached the front of the line to register, the Chunin, a guy with long blue hair that spilled down his face, scowled at him. Naruto bit his lip and looked down, waiting. The scowl on Mizuki's face turned into a smirk. Children who wanted to register for the Academy needed either the consent of their legal guardian or, for orphans, the orphanage director. Mizuki knew the little brat had been kicked out of the orphanage, so he had neither. "Show me your registration papers, _with adult consent," _he demanded, and Naruto bent down, still not looking up at him. His imagining was done; here he was, ready to face more sneers from adults.

Naruto took off his backpack and reached inside it, pulling out a paper. Mizuki snatched it from him before he could offer it, making Naruto flinch back. His eyes narrowed as his expectations fell through; he was looking at the _Hokage's own signature_, something he couldn't defy even if he wanted to. He then glanced at Iruka, standing over at the head of another line; he smirked, knowing that Iruka hated the Nine Tails even more than Mizuki did. He'd put the demon with him, and signed the sheet, making sure to put Iruka's name instead of his own - that would show Iruka. He then dropped the sheet, and Naruto scrambled for it, tripping on his feet. "Next," Mizuki called. The next kid looked a little hesitant to give Mizuki his papers, afraid he'd drop them too.

An hour later, all the incoming students were placed with their assigned teachers, ready to hear the first of many lectures. Naruto had sat down in the back row, hesitant to be further up and risk the teacher seeing him. He knew he was only delaying the inevitable - they'd call attendance and the teacher would know where he was - but his heart was afraid, and so he wanted to delay it as long as possible. His hands fidgeted together, his backpack slung off of the back of the chair he was sitting on. The teacher up in the front began writing what Naruto could only assume was his name: 'Umino Iruka', the man wrote. He turned around and Naruto flinched, sure that Iruka's eyes would land on him. They didn't. A couple of students gasped as they saw the horizontal scar that ran over the bridge of his nose.

"Cheh," Naruto heard from next to him, and glanced at the brown-haired boy next to him. "My dad's got bigger scars than that on his butt!"

Naruto's lips twitched, and he covered his mouth right before he burst out laughing. His giggles muffled, Iruka didn't hear them as he began talking.

"You kids are the first students that have elected to try and become shinobi after peacetime has officially been declared for the village. Ever since the Kyuubi attacked our village, we struggled to refill our ranks, and so pushed our students harder and had them graduate early - but something they all lost in this process was a lot of time in their childhood. Now that we've filled up our ranks, our class sizes are smaller, and our Academy program longer - four years instead of two." He took a breath - judging from how the children were starting to look away or bored, he didn't have much more time. "In the old system, students learned and trained with chakra from week one." At the mention of 'chakra', he got some kids' attention again. "This new, longer program wants us to not even start on chakra exercises until next year!" He got some surprised and angry looks at that. Before the muttering started, he continued. "But I've pushed for my class to be more integrated from the start - you all will be trained in using your chakra starting in a week instead of a year!"

The children seemed more excited again, and he pushed his luck. "The only thing is, in order to make sure we meet all the Academy's new standards, you guys are going to have more homework. You'll have to do more reading and studying on your own - but I'll be here after school a lot in case you ever need individual help with it. The upside is, you will learn the basic Academy jutsu early - we may even have time to learn extra jutsu!"

Excited chatter swept through the room, and even the kid next to Naruto smiled at that. "Maybe I'll learn more than my dad did in the Academy," he commented to Naruto. "Is your dad a ninja?" He asked Naruto, who looked down briefly. He was excited that someone was talking to him - he'd make a friend! - but his parents...

"I don't have a dad," Naruto said, before perking up. "I don't need one! I raise myself," he boasted, pushing away thoughts of Wolf that popped up. The person that was almost his dad... He understood why Wolf left, but it still hurt sometimes.

The kid next to him smiled. "Must be pretty nice, not having a bed-time or anything like that. What's your name?"

* * *

Naruto burst into Ichiraku Ramen, a dazzling smile on his face. "Teuchi! Ayame!" He shouted, "I've got a friend, I've got a friend!" Teuchi walked into the front, a small smile on his face at seeing Naruto.

"Slow down, my old brain's not quick enough. What is it?" He asked.

"Wait for me!" Ayame shouted from the back, before emerging with soapy hands. She dried them as Naruto started into his story.

He told them about Kendo, the kid that sat next to him in class. Kendo kept making jokes, and when recess time came, Naruto met a couple of Kendo's friends. They played ball games, got to know each other, and the other boys were impressed by how Naruto was only six, yet lived in his own apartment. "I've got Genin that I order around to do my shopping for me," Naruto bragged, developing an ego for the first time around other people. He was just so excited to be having people not stay away from him, he didn't know what to do with himself. Ayame was grinning, happy for Naruto, and Teuchi was a little more laid back about it.

"Don't get too excited yet, Naruto. Friendship takes time to build," Teuchi advised. Naruto smiled.

"I've got a feelin' these are gunna be good friends. Best friends! When I become Hokage, they'll be my advisors, an' before then they'll be my ninja teammates, we'll go on super secret missions, and..." The Ichirakus' spirits were uplifted by Naruto's own happiness that day. When the Hokage visited Naruto in his apartment later, he was met with the same stories and enthusiasm.

The village was just a little bit happier that day.

* * *

Itachi laid against a tree trunk, Shisui sitting on a branch above him, his legs dangling over the edge. "How's Fugaku dealing with how you're distancing yourself?" Shisui asked, and Itachi remained silent for a moment, thoughtful.

"He's started focusing a lot of his attention on Sasuke, so I think he's realized I'm not approving of what he has planned for the clan. But I'm being kept in the loop anyway - he still has hope for me. My turn," Itachi said, straightening himself. "How did you react after the Kyuubi attack?"

"In what respect do you mean?" Shisui asked.

"The malevolence of the Kyuubi spread all throughout Konoha, and especially for children, it brought about great terror in us. It activated my Sharingan when I was five, unnaturally, and it did for you, too; you were seven. It's made us into "geniuses", the combination of how elastic a child's mind is with the memorization ability of the Sharingan. But... it brought me great sorrow, too, because I matured early, and when I learned many things with my Sharingan, I could see how badly people treat each other. I couldn't stand it, and sometimes still cannot. How did you react?"

Shisui sighed, before a small chuckle erupted from him. "You always were a downer. Back then, all I wanted to do was go on dangerous missions and learn lots of jutsu. I saw more after getting the Sharingan, but it made me focus more. Now I've accomplished both, and it isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's still hella cool. What I think about most, with all the memories my Sharingan gives me, is all the good I see people do. From parents comforting their children, to kids playing with each other, big brothers playing with their little siblings.." He gave Itachi a pointed look then. "You're seeing all the bad, but you aren't seeing how much your distance is affecting Sasuke. I don't approve of it, Itachi. If something happens, you want him to have good memories with you. All he's having right now are big expectations from your father."

Itachi looked back up at Shisui. "If something is to happen to me, it will hurt Sasuke worse if he's close to me."

"And it hurts him now, every day, seeing you get farther away. The happy memories drive me, Itachi, because if they ever get far away in my mind, I know I have to create new ones." He smiled. "And then I do."

Itachi broke his gaze with Shisui, unwilling to stare down someone he undoubtedly considered a better man than himself. _What drives me,_ Itachi mused, _is my fear. My fear of things going wrong, of this peace breaking... This fear of hurting Sasuke more than I have to... _

The leaves swooshed as Shisui slid off the branch and fell back in front of Itachi. He patted Itachi on the shoulder. "Staying in your head too much only muddles your thoughts, Itachi. I've got to go." He offered Itachi another smile, and the boy looked up to return a small one. "You're still my best friend, though, you downer. Nothing can change that."

As Shisui disappeared in a classic Shunshin, the breeze caused swept Itachi's long hair around his face. His sorrowful expression flickered in and out of sight.

* * *

As Sasuke was practicing the Great Fireball Technique over a lake in the Uchiha compound, a little girl by the name of Hinata Hyuga went through basic Jyuken katas under the watchful eye of her father. She flowed through them like a dance, making it look more like an art form than a shinobi tool to kill. That would have been fine if it was good enough to actually kill.

"You are not fast enough, nor do you put enough power in your strikes," Hiashi said. Hinata gulped at the sudden input, and stumbled as she lost her focus. Knowing not to say anything, she began again, this time faster than before. Hiashi looked on, for she was doing better than befo-

"Oof," she grunted, stumbling over her own feet at the increased speed. Hiashi closed his eyes and turned away to leave, having seen enough. "Father, don't leave! I will do better!" She pleaded, turning to look at him.

He paused. "Continue your katas; tomorrow, I will send in a branch member to train you in more advanced katas. For now, continue your basic katas until you get them right."

"Father! I'll do better," Hinata insisted, stepping forward. "But please don't stop training me!" She sniffled, desperation filling her voice.

"I have more important clan business that only I can take care of; any trained Hyuga can train you," he said, still not facing his daughter. His feet began to move again, and Hinata spoke up quietly now.

"This is the only time I get with you anymore, father..."

His foot hesitated in its next step, for just a moment. He then continued on his path. Before he was out the door, Hinata heard him speak.

"Do not disappoint me again."

The door shut behind him, so that Hinata could not see the pain in his face. Hinata looked so much like her... He shakingly looked down the hall to his room, where he would be staying - and for a moment, saw her. His wife, beautiful as she had ever been, without the pain of a childbirth that killed her on her face. She was smiling, her eyes the same as Hinata's - soft and kind, seemingly untouched by the shinobi world's cruelty and the complicated clan politics. He couldn't stand to see those eyes from Hinata every single day.

Hinata shuddered, trying to suppress the tears that she just knew were coming. Her own father didn't want to be around his little failure...

* * *

A knock came to Hanzo's oak door, the blunt sound drawing the legendary shinobi's attention from the latest security matters he was reading up on. "Come in," he said, the two guards at his sides laying a hand on their weapons. "Who is it?"

A familiar voice came in, that of one of his reconnaissance ninja, Haruko Utameshi. "I've arrived back from our surveillance, sir. I've come with some interesting prisoners."

"Come in, then," Hanzo said, "But first: What did the lizard hide under the rock?" The code phrase's answer was different for each ninja under his command, no two ninja knowing another code phrase. It eased Hanzo's paranoia.

"The stinging bee," Haruko said. Hanzo relaxed.

"Come in," he said, and the doors opened. Haruko and five other members of his team came in, all wearing sunglasses. They were in formation around two individuals in black cloaks with red clouds, being dragged by chains. The man was slouched, had red hair, and seemed to be walking along sluggishly. The woman had purple hair and a paper flower behind her right ear, and was standing straight and tall as she was led in front of Hanzo. The old ninja raised an eyebrow at the duo, recognizing the cloaks as those worn by that radical group from a while back; Akatsuki. Their activities had died down after he had killed Yahiko, but perhaps they were not entirely gone...

Hanzo let out a dark chuckle, seeing how weak the red-haired man - Nagato, if he remembered right - looked. They had been tagged with chakra restraining seals, and evidently it was taking its toll on Nagato. He looked back at Haruko. "Where are the other two from your recon team?"

Haruko bowed, a grimace staining his features. "They died valiantly in order to place the chakra restraining seals on these two. What will you have me do with them?"

Hanzo raised a hand and rose from his seat, walking around his desk to get a better view of his prisoners. "Well, well - you must be two of the last members of Akatsuki. You know, your bodies strung from this tower would make a fine example to the people of what happens to those who want to destroy Amegakure's peace."

Konan spoke up, a fierce expression on her face. "This isn't peace! This is a dictatorship! You are making people suffer and do whatever it takes to keep Amegakure's borders protected! Families lose children that will become ninja and die a year later - children lose their parents to a war you don't even need to be a part of anymore! The Third Great Shinobi War is over. Please, stop; this isn't peace if you treat your people like you are at war with _them_."

Hanzo narrowed his eyes. "You don't know what it is like to run a village and see its land stripped away by eager nations or destroyed in battle by greedy, warring countries. Amegakure is a central point between some very important nations, in case you have not noticed - and fighting over it will start again if we do not spare every resource of ours to defending our borders."

A chuckle rose out of Nagato at that. "You know, Hanzo... If you were strong enough... If you had the power of a god... You would not need to abuse other people and steal from them to defend Amegakure. It isn't us that is the threat to Amegakure." He cut the connection to the six controlled bodies around him, including Haruko, and they collapsed - the sunglasses on their faces fell off to reveal rapidly fading pairs of Rinnegan. His head rose, and the eyes of the Sage snapped open. Nagato stood straight, and Hanzo tried to reach for a dagger he kept on his person at all times.

Key word: tried.

Nagato stepped forward, and Hanzo's body jerked, shakily taking a step toward Nagato as well. Another step, and Hanzo's body seemed to kneel down, his hands forced behind his back by some sort of invisible force. "Wh-what... are y-"

His mouth snapped shut as his head was forced into the ground, bowing to Nagato. The eyes of the Sage stared down at him. "I will not force the people to suffer in order to protect them. I will be strong enough to protect them without resorting to their abuse. I will be their hero - their god." The eyes of Hanzo's final judgment rested on him for a moment, perceiving his struggled breathing. There was no sign, no movement, no seal - Hanzo simply seized up, and heaved out his last breath, the red vapor of his blood staining the carpet underneath. Nagato - no... Pain's eyes closed. There would be peace - he would ensure it.

* * *

Naruto stepped into class on his second day, a huge grin sparking his face. He raced his way up the stairs to his seat and sat in it. Kendo wasn't here yet, he thought disappointedly as he settled into his seat. The seats next to and in front of him were empty. The strange thing was, even as the last students trickled in, they stayed empty. As class started he looked around for Kendo and his pals, wondering if they'd wanted to sit closer to the teacher now that actual class was starting. Naruto finally spotted Kendo and the others - but there was no other seat left for him around them. He frowned, disappointed; he'd just have to wait until recess!

But when it came, the boys didn't immediately come to him. Naruto jogged up to them, a hopeful expression on his face as they began to play ball.

When Kendo's eyes finally turned to look at him, Naruto immediately understood. But the child voiced it anyway, even when Naruto knew it was coming: "My mom said I'd get in trouble if I spent time with you..." Murmurs of agreements echoed in the group, and they turned away, forcing themselves to ignore what their parents, friends, siblings, and even teachers called a demon.

His eyes watered.

* * *

**That's it! Sorry about not updating. I thought I'd have more free time during the break, but in the end, all that translated to for me was "welp, more time to procrastinate!"**

**I hope you enjoyed it. Review! Let me know what I did right, or more importantly, what you didn't like/what I could improve. Especially if I have inconsistencies in my story, that way I can fix them. Thanks, people. Take care. **


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